
CHARLES COWLEY. 



ILLUSTRATED 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



HE VISED EDITION. 



BY CHARLES COWLEY. 



BOSTON : 

I. EE & SHEPARD. 

LOWELL : 

B. C. SARGEANT AND JOSHUA MERRILL. 



^^v^ 

.u^^ 



Press of Stone & Hiise, Lowell. 



PREFACE. 



In an age so prolific in works of local history as ours, no 
apology need be oflfered for publishing this History of Lowell. 
Successors of the Pawtucket and Wamesit Indians, — heirs of the 
founders of American Manufactures, — contemporaries of the men 
of the "Legion of Honor," who went hence to defend the Na- 
tionality of America, and who, dying on the field of battle, have 
risen to enduring renown ; — the people of Lowell are to-day in 
possession of a certain body of memories and traditions, not 
current elsewhere, but kept alive here by local associations, by 
the presenceof historical objects, and by the local press. 

Of these memories and traditions Lowell is justly proud. 
From them her people receive an educational stimulus not to be 
despised. She would no more part with these local reminis- 
cences than Plymouth would part with her Pilgrim history, or 
than New York would forget those Knickerbocker memories, 
among which the genius of Irving is enshrined forever. 

To gather and embalm all that seemed most valuable in this 
heritage of memories and traditions, has been the object of the 
present work, which covers the whole period from the discovery 
of the Merrimack River by De Monts, in IGOo, to the year of 
Grace 1868. 

The first edition, or rather the original germ, of this work, 
was published in 185G. With the aid of a mass of materials 
laboriously gathered during the last twelve years, I may hope 
that the value of the work has been greatly increased. The 
narrative has been thoroughly revised, and very much enlarged. 

Several engravers of established reputation were employed 
to execute illustrative cuts. Many of these are well done : but 



some are so badly executed that, perhaps, an apology is due 
for their insertion in these pages ; and others have been rejected 
altogether. 

Materials were at hand for a much larger volume, or even for 
several volumes ; but I have aimed to be concise,— considering 
Moses, who, in two lines, chronicled the creation of a w^orld, 
{pace Colenso,) a much better model for the local annalist than 
he who filled several volumes with the burning of a Brunswick 
Theatre. 

How far I have succeeded in the accomplishment of this self- 
imposed task, my readers must judge ; and they will form the 
most charitable judgments, who best appreciate the great diffi- 
culties under which snch a task must be prosecuted. If I have 
not wholly failed of my purpose, the work will possess attrac- 
tions for all who are identified with Lowell, and perchance may 
descend to the Lowellians of the Future, and be resCd with inter- 
est hereafter, when he who wrote it shall have passed away. 

The Author. 

March 4th, 18G8. 



CONTE]\TS. 



Chapter. Page. 

I. — From the Discovery of the Merrimack to the 

Introduction op Manufactures, . . . . 13 

II. — Introduction of Manufactures, 28 

III. — The First Manufacturing Corporation, . , 36 

IV. — Manufacturing History of Lowell, ... 42 

V. — General History of Loavell. 1820 — 1835, . 69 

VI. — Church History of Lowell, 86 

VII. — School History of Lowell, 103 

VIII. — General History of Lowell. 1835 — 1850, . Ill 

IX. — General History of Lowell. 1850 — 1860, . 140 

X. — Political History of Lowell, 158 

XL — Municipal History op Lowell, 165 

XII. — Lowell during the Eebellion, 172 

XIIL— General History of Lowell. 1860—1868, . 198 

Necrology of Lowell, 213 

Lowell Legislators, 223 

Naval Officers, 226 

Army Officers, 228 

Soldiers who Died in the Service, 231 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Lowell and the Author, Frontispieces. 

Page. 

Pawtucket Falls and Bridge, 31 

Kirk Boott, 45 

John D. Prince, 47 

Merrimack Mill, No. 6, 49 

Lowell Company's Mills, 52 

Oliver M. Whipple, 63 

William Livingston, 74 

St. Anne's Church, 86 

St. Paul's Church, 88 

First Universalist Church, 89 

Appleton Street Church, 91 

Paige Street Church, 94 

Worthen Street Church, 96 

Free Chapel, 97 

Kirk Street Church, 98 

Central Methodist Church, 99 

Lee Street Church, 100 

James C. Ayer, 115 

Nathan Crosby, 133 

Northern Depot, 134 

Northern Canal, . 137 

Court House, 141 

George AVellman, 146 

Lowell Jail, 153 

Benjamin F. Butler, 173 

Ladd and W^hitney Monument, 178 

Major E. G. Abbott, 182 

Captain Claffey, 184 

Major S. A. Perkins, 187 

General H. L. Abbott, 190 

John Nesmith, 201 

Statue op Victory, 210 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



CHAPTEE I. 

FROM THE DISCOVERY OF THE MERRIMACK TO THE INTRODUCTION 
OF MANUFACTURES. 

Geology of the Merrimack— Discovery of the Merrimack — De Monts — Cham- 
plain — Concord River — Indian Rendezvous at Lowell — John Eliot — Gen. 
Gookin — Billerica — Chelmsford — Wamesit Reservation — Indians — Passa- 
conaway — Wannalancet — Indian War — King William's War — Dracut — Pur- 
chase of Wamesit— Tewksbury— Convention in Dracut-Bunker Hill Inci- 
dents—Simeon Spaulding— Shay's Rebellion— Slavery— Pawtucket Canal- 
Bridge over the Merrimack — Middlesex Canal— Timber Trade. 

Herodotus, with fine felicity, calls Egypt a gift from the 
Nile. In a similar sense, Lowell may be called a gift from 
the Merrimack. Her history, also, may be well begun with 
that noble artery of nature, the waters of which move the 
great wheels of her industry. 

Long after America was upheaved from the bosom of the 
Atlantic, a chain of lakes occupied the valleys of the Merri- 
mack and its tributaries, from the mountains to the sea. 
Proofs of this appear in the alluvial formation of these valleys, 
the shapes of their basins, their outlets, their different levels, 
and the stratified character of the soil. One of these lakes 
extended westward from Pawtucket Falls ; and the limits of 
several others may be easily defined." But long before the 
dawn of history, and probably long before man appeared on 
the earth, the attrition of the waters in the channels of these 
lakes, by widening and deepening their outlets, gradually 
diminished their depth, and at length left their basins dry. 

* Potter's Manchester, p. 24; Fox's Dunstable, p. 8. 

2 



14 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The draining of these lakes increased the volume of water 
■which the Merrimack roiled down to the main. 

The head of the Merrimack is at Franklin in New Hamp- 
shire, where the Winnepesawkee, the outlet of the lake of that 
name, unites with the Pemigewasset, an artery of the White 
Mountains. Like all the great rivers on the Atlantic slope, 
the Merrimack pursues a southerly course. But after follow- 
ing this course from Franklin to Tyngsborough, a distance of 
eighty miles, the Merrimack, unlike any other stream on the 
Atlantic, makes a detour to the north-east, and even runs a 
part of the way north-west. It is obviously unnatural that, 
after approaching within twenty miles of the head-waters of 
the Saugus, as the Merrimack does on entering Massachusetts, 
it should suddenly change its course, and pursue a circuitous 
route of more than forty miles to the sea. If the history of 
by-gone ages could be restored, we should probably find the 
Merrimack discharging its burden at Lynn, and not at New- 
buryport. 

Changes like this, however, are not unfamiliar to geologists. 
Sometimes they have been caused by earthquakes, but more 
often, in these latitudes, by ice-gorges." Whether this deflec- 
tion in the course of the Merrimack was caused by subterra- 
nean convulsions, or by the formation in the old channel of an 
ice-blockade, cannot now be known ; but the fact of the change 
is unquestionable. 

The discovery of the Merrimack took place under the auspi- 
ces of Henry the Fourth, commonly called Henry the Great, 
whose reign forms one of the most brilliant eras in the annals 
of France. In 1603, Pierre Du Gua, Sieur de Monts, one of 
the ablest of the Huguenot chiefs, obtained a patent from this 
king, creating him Lieutenant-General and Vice- Admiral, and 
vesting in him the government of New France, which em- 



* On earthquakes on the Merrimack, see Coffin's Newbury; on ice- 
floods, Hitchcock's Geology of Massachusetts, Part III. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 15 

braced all our Eastern and Middle States, together with the 
Dominion of Canada. On the seventh of March, 1604, De 
Monts sailed from Havre with an expedition for colonizing 
" Acadia," as his nev/ dominions were called. He arrived on 
the sixth of April, and began at once the great work of ex- 
ploration and settlement. '■•^ While talking with the Indians on 
the banks of the river St. Lawrence, in the ensuing summer, 
he was told by them that there was a beautiful river lying far 
to the south, which they called the Merrimack. f The follow- 
ing winter De Monts spent with his fellow-pioneers on the 
island of St. Croix, in Passamaquoddy Ba.y, amid hardships as 
severe as those which, sixteen years later, beset the Pilgrims 
at Plymouth. 

On the eighteenth of June, 1G05, in a bark of fifteen tons, — 
having with him the Sieur de Champlain, several other French 
gentlemen, twenty sailors, and an Indian with his squaw,- — Do 
Monts sailed from the St. Croix, and standing to the south 
examined the coast as far as Cape Cod. In the course of this 
cruise, on the seventeenth of July, 1G05, he entered the bay 
on which the city of Newburyport has since arisen, and dis- 
covered the Merrimack at its mouth. The Sieur de Cham- 
plain, the faithful pilot of De Monts, and chronicler of his 
voyages, has left a notice of this discovery in a work which 
ranks among the most romantic in the literature of the sea. 
Inclosing this notice Champlain says: "Moreover, there is 
in this bay a river of considerable magnitude, which we have 
called Gua's Eiver."! 

* Parkman's Pioneers of France in the New World. 

t Rtlationes des Jesuites, 1604. 

X Plus y a en icelle bay une riviere qui est fort spaciuese, laqulle auons nom- 
ine la riviere du Gas [Gua].— Voyages en la NouveUe France, ed. 1632, p. 80 
(Harvard University Library). In Potter's Manchester, and Chase's Haverhill, 
Captain Champlain himself is erroneously credited with the discovery of the 
Merrimack. The romantic career of Champlain, " the father of New France," 
is graphically sketched by Dr. Parkman, in his I'ioneers of France in the New 
World. His works are soon to be published by the University of Lasalle. 



16 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Thus De Monts named the Merrimack from himself; but 
the compliment was not accepted. Eegardless of the name 
with which it was baptized by its discoverer, the Merrimack 
clung, with poetic justice, to the name which it received from 
the Indians long before the flag of the Vice-Admiral floated 
over Newburyport Bay. The visit of Admiral De Monts, like 
that of Capt. John Smith in 1614, was attended with no result. 
Other renowned names were yet to be inscribed on the list of 
the visitors of the Merrimack. But its song was the song of 
Tennyson's brook ;— 

"For men may come and men may go, 
, But I roll oil forever." 

The King had stipulated, in his patent of New France, that 
De Monts should establish in Acadia the Eoman Catholic 
creed, ("■ la foy caiholique, apostolique et romaine ;"J a singu- 
lar condition indeed, considering that De Monts was a Protest- 
ant, and that Henry himself was only a "political Catholic." 
The expenses of the three expeditions which he sent to Xew 
France were ruinous to De Monts. Cabals were formed by his 
enemies ; neither the loftiest motives nor the finest abilities 
could save him ; and the tragic death of Henry by the dagger 
Iby.. Eavaillac, in 1610, completed his ruin as a public man. 
He died about the year 1620.=-'-= 

In 1635, thirty years after the discovery of the Merrimack, 
the Concord, which the Indians called the Musketaquid, as- 
sumed a place in civilized history; the fame of its grassy 
meadows and of the fish that swarmed in its waters attracting 
settlers from England, who established themselves at Concord. | 

From a period too remote to be determined by either history 
or tradition, until after the great Indian Plague of 1617, 
Pawtuoket Falls on the Merrimack, and Wamesit Falls on the 

* See Haag's Vies des Protestants Francais (Boston Public Library). 

X Thoreau's Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; Beynold's Agri- 
cultural Survey of Middlesex County, in Transactions of Mas.^. Society for 
Promoting Agriculture, 1859; Shattuck's Concord, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 17 

Concord, were the sites of populous villages of Pawtucket or 
Pennacook Indians, who, indeed, remained, though with 
greatly diminished numbers, in the present territory of Lowell, 
forty years after the plague. Here, in spring-time, from all 
the circumjacent region, came thousands of the dusky sons 
and daughters of the forest, catching, with rude stratagem, 
their winter's store of fish. Here they sat in conclave round 
the council fire. Here they threaded the fantastic mazes of 
the dance. "Here was the war-whoop sounded, and the death- 
song sung ; and when the tiger strife was over, here curled 
the smoke of peace." 

The Pawtuckets, or Pennacooks, were among the most pow- 
erful tribes in New England, numbering, after the plague, 
several thousand souls. Their territory stretched almost from 
the Penobscot to the Connecticut, and included the whole of 
New Hampshire, a part of Massachusetts, and a part of Maine. 
At the head of this tribe, the first English settlers found the 
sagacious and wary Passaconaway, who, in 1644, after more 
than twenty years' observation of the progress of the English 
settlements, signed an agreement which is still preserved, re- 
nouncing his authority as an independent chief, and placing 
himself and his tribe under the colonial authorities.* 

In 1647, the Eev. John Eliot, " the Apostle of the Indians," 
began a series of missionary visits to this place, which were 
continued by him till the villages of Wamesit and Pawtucket 
ceased to be. In 1656, Major-G-eneral Daniel Gookin was ap- 
pointed Superintendent of all the Indians under the jurisdic- 
tion of the Colony, among whom were the Indians living here. 
Thus a sort of Indian Bureau was established, not unlike the 
Ereedmen's Bureau of a later day. The Apostle Eliot and 
Judge Grookin won the entire confidence of the Indians, being 
about the only white men that came among them who did not 
come to rob them. 

* I omit the details of the Indian history of Lowell, and refer the reader 
to mj' historical lecture on the "Memories of the Indians and Pioneers" of this 
region, published, in pamphlet form, in 1862. 

2«-' 



18 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

In 1652, Captain Simon Willard and Captain Edward 
Johnson, under a commission from the colonial government, 
ascended the Merrimack in a boat, and surveyed the valley as 
far as Lake Wiunepesawkee. A new impetus was given to 
the work of settlement, which, as early as 1653, reached the 
vicinity of Lowell. On the twenty-ninth of May, 1655, the 
General Court incorporated the town of Chelmsford, and also 
the town of Billerica."^ 

To secure the Indians from being dispossessed of their lands, 
on which they had erected substantial wigwams, made enclo- 
sures, and begun the business of agriculture, Eliot, in 1653, 
procured the passage of an act by the General Court, reserving 
a good part of the land on which Lowell now stands to the 
exclusive use of the Indians. The bounds of Chelmsford, and 
also of this Wamesit Indian Reservation, were modified and 
enlarged by the General Court in 1656 and in 1660. About 
1665, a ditch, traces of which are still visible, was cut to 
mark the bounds of the Indian reservation ; beginning on the 
bank of the Merrimack, above the Falls, and running thence 
southerly, easterly, and northerly, in a semi-circular line, 
including about twenty-five hundred acres, and termina- 
ting on the bank of the Merrimack, about a mile below the 
mouth of the Concord. 

The year 1660 was signalized by an event claiming notice 
in this narrative, though it is uncertain whether it took place 
here or where Manchester now stands : the retirement of Pas- 
saconaway. Burdened with the weight of about four score 
years, this veteran chief gave a grand though rude banquet, 
which was attended by a vast concourse of chiefs, biaves, and 
other Indians of every degree, together with a representation 
of the new race that was now claiming the ancient abode of 
the red man. Transferring his sachemship to his son, Wan- 
nalancet, the old chief made a farewell address, of which we 

* AUeu's Chelmsford ; Myrick'a Billerica; Barber's Historical Collections. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



19 



have the following report, — whicli is, perhaps, as trustworthy 
as the reports of speeches in the pictured pages of Livy : — 

" I am now going the way of nil the earth; I am ready to die, and not 
likely to see you ever met together any more. I will now leave this word 
of counsel with 3''ou: Take heed how you quarrel with the English. Harken 
to the last words of your father and friend. The white men are the sons of 
the morning. The Great Spirit is their father. His sun shines bright about 
them. Never make war Avith them. Sure as you light the fires, the breath of 
heaven will turn the flame upon you and destroj^ you." 

The local sachem of this place dur- 
ing several succeeding years was Nump- 
how, who was married to one of Passa- 
conaway's daughters. But in 1669, 
Waunalancct and the Indians of Con- 
cord, Xew Hampshire, fearing an attack 
from the Mohawks, came down the Mer- 
^i/*| rimack in canoes, took up their abode at 
Wamesit, and built a fort for their pro- 
tection on the hill in Belvidere, ever 
-^ since called Tort Hill, which they sur- 

rounded with palisades. The white settlers of the vicinity, 
participating in this dread of the Mohawks, shut themselves 
up in garrison houses. 

In 1674, Gookin computed the Christian Indians then in 
Wamesit at fifteen families, or seventy-five souls, and the ad- 
herents of the old faith, or no-faith, at nearly two hundred 
more. At this time, the Indian magistrate, Numphow, the 
archetype of Judge Locke and Judge Crosby, held a monthly 
court, taking cognizance of petty oflFences, in a log cabin, near 
the Boott Canal. An Indian preacher, Sammel, imparted to 
his clansmen his own crude views of Christianity at weekly 
meetings in a log chapel near the west end of Appleton street. 
In May of each year came Eliot and Gookin, who held a court 
having jurisdiction of higher offences, and gave direction in 
all matters affecting the interests of the village. Numphow's 
cabin was Gookin's court-house, and Samuel's chapel was 




20 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Eliot's cliurch. Wannalaocet held his court as chief in a 
log cabin near Pawtucket Falls. 

In 1675, came King Phillip's War, during which Wanna- 
lancet and our local Indians, faithful to the counsels of Passa- 
conaway, either took part with the whites, or remained neutral. 
Their sufferings in consequence of this were most severe. 
Some of them were put to death by Phillip for exposing his 
designs ; some of them were put to death by the colonists as 
Phillip's accomplices ; some fell in battle in behalf of the 
whites ; while others fell victims to the undiscriminating hatred 
of the low whites, whose passions, on the least provocation, 
broke out with hellish fury against the "praying Indians." 
In one instance, in 1676, when all the able-bodied Indians 
had fled to Canada, and when six or seven aged Indians, blind 
and lame, were left here in wigwams, too infirm to be removed, 
a party of scoundrels from Chelmsford came to Wamesit by 
night, set fire to these wigwams and burned all the invalids to 
death."= What is worse, so depraved was public sentiment 
during that period, these wanton and cowardly murderers were 
allowed to go unpunished. It was impossible to find a jury 
that would return a verdict of guilty against a white man who 
had killed an Indian, no matter under what circumstances of 
atrocity the murder had been committed. 

During this war the white settlers in this region were gath- 
ered for protection in garrisons. Billerica escaped harm; but 
Chelmsford was twice visited by the partisans of Phillip, 
and several buildings were burned. Two sons of Samuel Var- 
num, living in what is now Dracut, were shot while crossing 
the Merrimack with their father in a boat. 

In April, 1676, Captain Samuel Hunting and Lieutenant 
James Kichardson, under orders from the Governor and Coun- 
cil, erected a fort at Pawtucket Falls, in which a garrison was 



« See more of these atrocities in Cowley's Indian and Pioneer Memories ; 
Gookin's Christian Indians in Transactions of the American Antiquarian 
Society, vol. 2; Oliver's Puritan Commonwealth; Willard Memoir. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



21 



placed, under command of Lieutenant Kichardson. A montli 
later, the garrison was reinforced, and Captain Thomas Hench- 
man placed in command. This put an effectual check to the 
incursions of Phillip's party in this part of the colony. 

When the war was over, and AVannalancet returned to 
Wamesit with the remains of his tribe, he found his corn fields 
in the hands of the whites, and he himself a stranger in the 
land of his fathers. By order of the General Court, he and 
his people were placed on Wickasauke Island, in charge of 
Colonel Jonathan Tyng of Dunstable. In 1686, Colonel 
Tyng, Major Henchman, and others, purchased of Wannalan- 
cet and his tribe all their remaining lands in this region, leav- 
ing them only their rights of hunting and fishing. At length, 
after passing through various vicissitudes, and doing numerous 
acts of kindness in return for the injuries which the colonists 
had inflicted on him, Wannalancet joined the St. Francis tribe 
in Canada, and ended his days among them. 

During the nine years of King William's War, which fol- 
lowed the English Revolution of 1688, the people of all the 
towns of this region again took refuge in forts and forti- 
fied houses. The fort at Pawtucket Falls was occupied by a 
garrison under command of Major Henchman. But this did 
not entirely save them. On the- first of August, 1092, a 
party of Indians, in league with the French in Canada, made a 
raid into Billerica, and killed eight of the inhabitants. On 
the fifth of August, 1695, a similar party made a raid into 
what is now Tewksbury, and killed fourteen of the people. A 
party of three hundred men, horse and foot, under Colonel Jo- 
seph Lynde, scoured all the neighboring country in vain, in 
search of the foe. From this officer, Lynde's Hill in Belvi- 
dere derives its name — he having fortified it, and for some time 
occupied it with his command. 

In 1701 , the town of Dracut was incorporated. It contained 
twenty-five families, and had previously formed a part of 



22 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Chelmsford/-' It took its name from a parish in Wales, the 
original home of the Varnums. 

Subsequent to the " Wamesit Purchase," made by Tyng and 
Henchman, already mentioned, the lands of the Indian Reser- 
vation were purchased in small parcels by various persons, who 
settled upon them as upon other lands in Chelmsford. But in 
1725, when Samuel Pierce, who had his domicil on the Indian 
Eeservation, was elected a member of the General Court, he 
was refused his seat, on the ground that he was not an inhabi- 
tant of Chelmsford. Thereupon the people of East Chelms- 
ford, as Wamesit was then called, refused to pay taxes to 
Chelmsford ; and to remedy this mischief, an act was passed 
annexing Wamesit to that town. 

On the twenty-ninth of October, 1727, occurred the greatest 
earthquake ever known in this country. Walls and chimneys 
fell, and all the towns on the Merrimack suffered severely. 

In 1734, the General Court incorporated the town of Tewks- 
bury, the territory of which had previously belonged to Bil- 
lerica. It took its name from the English parish of Tewks- 
bury, on the Severn, in Gloucestershire, so famous in history 
as the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the *' Wars 
of the Eoses." There the partisans of the House of York, 
under Edward the Fourth, and the partisans of the House of 
Lancaster, under the Amazonian Margaret, Queen of Henry 
the Sixth, encountered each other's battle-axes for the last 
time. There, after the battle, a Prince of Wales was barbar- 
ously murdered by two royal Dukes. There the glory of the 
royal House of Lancaster was eclipsed in blood. 

In 1745, occurred the siege and capture of Louisburg. To 
the army which Sir William Pepperell led from Massachusetts 
against that renowned fortress, belonged young John Ford, 
and perhaps others, from what is now Lowell. 

At the battle of Bunker Hill, two companies of Chelmsford 
men, one under Captain John Ford, the other under Captain 

* Lowell Citizen and Xews, October, 1859. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 23 

Benjamin Walker, and one company composed largely of Dra- 
cut men, under Captain Peter Colbiirn, were present, and ac- 
quitted themselves with credit. There are two traditions con- 
nected with this event which must not be lost, notwithstanding 
the gigantic battles of the late Eebellion have thrown all the 
engagements of the Ecvolution into the shade. It is said that 
when the first man in Ford's company fell, his comrades, then 
for the first time under fire, were seized with panic ; but there- 
upon one of Ford's officers began to sing Old Hundred in a 
firm voice, and this so reassured the men that they gave no 
further sign of panic. The other tradition of this battle is, 
that, just as the ammunition of the Americans was exhausted, 
and orders were given to retreat, a British officer mounted the 
breastworks, and, with a flourish of his sword, exclaimed, 
"Now, my boys, we have you." Hearing this. Captain Col- 
burn of Dracut picked up a stone, about the size of a hen's 
egg, and, throwing it with all his might, hit the officer in the 
forehead, knocking him down backwards. The Captain and 
his men then hastily retreated with the rest of the American 
forces. 

In November, 1776, committees from all the towns of this 
region met in convention at the house of Major Joseph Varnum 
in Dracut, and petitioned the colonial legislatures of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire for a law to regulate prices, 
which had been fearfully enhanced by the Revolutionary War, 
then pending.'-'^ The proceedings of this convention show that 
its members participated in that ignorance of the principles of 
political economy, which was universal till the time of Adam 
Smith, and which is by no means dispelled in the days of John 
Stuart Mill. 

This region has the honor of having contributed one of the 
most useful, though not one of the most brilliant, statesmen 
who served the American Colonies in their struggle for national 
independence — Simeon Spaulding of Chelmsford. He was a 

*New Hampshire Historical Collections, vol. 2, pp. 58-68. 



24 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Colonel of Militia when the duties of the Militia, and the 
protection which it afforded, made that office one of real impor- 
tance. From 1771 to 1775 he was a member of the General 
Court. From 1775 to 1778 he served in the Provincial Con- 
gress, and during one of these years was Chairman of the 
Committee of Public Safety. He was also a member of the 
Convention of 1779, which framed the State Constitution. 
He died in 1785.- 

During Shay's Eebellion, in 1786, a body of Chelmsford 
Militia served under General Lincoln in the western counties ; 
and " on the memorable thirtieth of January," as Allen 
writes, "performed a march of thirty miles, without refresh- 
ment, through deep snows, in a stormy and severely cold night ; 
a march that would have done honor to the veteran soldiers of 
Hannibal or Napoleon." 

The people of Chelmsford, from the earliest period of their 
local history, gave every encouragement to millers, lumber- 
men, mechanics, and traders, making grants of land, with tem- 
porary exemption from taxation, to such as would settle in their 
town. Accordingly, Chelmsford became distinguished for its 
saw-mills, grist-mills, and mechanics' shops of various kinds. 
Establishments of the same kind also arose in B.illerica, Dra- 
cut and Tewksbury. 

It is but fair, though far from flattering, to record the fact, 
that the mother towns of Lowell were among the last to abandon 
slavery.f Till near the beginning of the present century, ne- 
gro slaves were kept on what is now the Moor farm, and also 
on what afterward became known as the Livermore place, 
where Phillip Gedney, a former British Consul at Demarara, 
then resided. 

Toward the close of the last century, this region became 
the theatre of an active business in wood and lumber. The 
forests along the shores of the Merrimack, which had never 

* Allen's Chelmsford ; Lowell Courier, September 23—29, 1859. 
t See Moore's Slavery in Massachusetts. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 25 

before rung with the sound of the woodman's axe, afforded an 
exhaustless supply of materials for rafts, which already com- 
manded a good price at Newburyport and other towns on the 
sea-hoard. But the descent of the river at Pawtucket Tails 
was so precipitous, — the current so violent, and the channel so 
rocky, — that great difficulty was experienced in passing rafts 
down the rapids. A canal round the falls for the passage of 
boats, rafts and masts was first suggested for the convenience 
of the lumbermen, thirty years before any one dreamed of 
using the waters for the purpose of manufactures ; though from 
about the time of the Eevolution there had been a saw-mill 
below Pawtucket Falls, driven by the Merrimack. It was 
owned about this time by John Tyng of Tyngsborough, a Judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas. 

In 1792, Dudley A. Tyng, William Coombs, and others, 
were incorporated as " The Proprietors of the Locks and Ca- 
nals on Merrimack Eiver."'-= They at once proceeded to open a 
canal, one and a half miles long, connecting Merrimack Eiver 
above the falls with the Concord below. The level of the 
water in the lower end of the canal, a brief distance above the 
mouth of the Concord, was thirty-two feet lower than the level 
of the water at the upper end. The descent was accomplished 
by means of four sets of locks. The canal occupied less than 
five years in its construction, and cost fifty thousand dollars. 

When the first boat passed down the canal in 1797, with 
the directors and other gentlemen on board, and hundreds of 
men, women and children as spectators on the banks, an inci- 
dent occurred, of which Allen gives a very lively account. 
One side of the canal gave way ; the water burst upon the 
the people, and the greatest confusion ensued. " Infants were 
separated from their mothers, children from their parents, 
wives from their husbands, young ladies from their gallants ; 
and men, women, timber, and broken boards and planks, were 
seen promiscuously floating in the water." Nantes — rari ap- 

*1 Mass. Rep. p. 168. 

3 



2Q HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

parent in gurgite vasto. But no life was lost, and no serious 
injury incurred. 

The stock of the Locks and Canals Company was divided 
into five hundred shares, owned by individuals in Middlesex 
and Essex Counties. But the dividends declared were never 
considerable ; and the stock soon fell far below par in conse- 
quence of the successful competition of the Middlesex Canal 
with the business. 

In the same year that the Locks and Canals Company were 
incorporated, Parker Varnum of Dracut and others were in- 
corporated as " The Proprietors of the Middlesex Merrimack 
Eiver Bridge," and the first bridge across the Merrimack 
was constructed by them at Pawtueket Falls. It was entirely 
of wood. Previous to this time, the only public conveyance 
over the Merrimack was by a toll ferry-boat. The Concord 
had been bridged nearly twenty years earlier. 

In 1793, the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal were incor- 
porated. Mr. Weston, an eminent English engineer, was em- 
ployed to survey the channel of the canal ; and Loammi Bald- 
win of Woburn superintended its construction, and was the 
animating soul of the work. This canal began on the Merri- 
mack, about a mile above Pawtueket Falls, extended south 
by east a distance of thirty-one miles, and terminated in Charles- 
town. It was completed in 1804, and cost seven hundred 
thousand dollars. It was twenty-four feet wide and four feet 
deep, and was fed by Concord Eiver. In digging this canal, 
pine cones and charcoal were found, twelve feet below the sur- 
face, specimens of which were long exhibited in the Museum at 
Cambridge. The excavations made for this canal, and also 
those previously made for the Pawtueket Canal, disclosed un- 
mistakable proofs that the channel of the Merrimack, in this 
vicinity, was once a considerable distance south and west of 
its present situation — that the Merrimack formerly ran by the 
southwest side of Fort Hill, instead of by the northeast 
side. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 27 

This Canal was the first in the United States that was 
opened for the transportation of passengers and merchandise ; 
and some are still living who were often passengers in the neat 
little packet-boat, " Governor Sullivan," which plied between 
Boston and Lowell, through the waters of the Middlesex Ca- 
nal, occupying nearly the whole day in the passage. Connect- 
ing Boston with the upper Merrimack, the channel of which 
was navigable the entire distance from Pawtucket Falls up to 
Concord, it formed an important artery for the lumber busi- 
ness, which had long been very extensive here, as well as for 
the new industries then in process of development. Vast 
quantities of timber grown around Winnepesawkee Lake, on 
the Merrimack and its branches, and on Massabesic Pond, and 
the produce of a great extent of fertile country, were trans- 
ported to Boston by this canal. =••' 

The first boat voyage from Boston, by the Middlesex Canal 
and the Merrimack Eiver, to Concord, (N. H.), was made in 
the autumn of 1814. The first steamboat horn Boston reached 
Concord in 1819. Had this canal been kept open until now, 
it is difficult to see why it might not still be profitably con- 
ducted. But its day has gone by, and its history may as well 
be ended here as hereafter. 

As the competition of the Middlesex Canal ruinously re- 
duced the value of the property of the Pawtucket Canal, so, 
in the retributive justice of years, other competition — the in- 
troduction of railroads — extinguished the value of the stock 
of the Middlesex Canal. A striking example of " the revenges 
of history." In 1853, navigation was discontinued in the 
canal, and soon afterward portions of its banks were levelled, 
and parts of the channel filled up, The income of the stock 
hardly averaged three and a half per cent.; and the proprie- 
tors, hopeless of any better dividends, disposed of all their 
saleable property, and abandoned their franchise, of which 

^See Armory's Life of Governor Sullivan. 



28 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

they had once been proud. On the third of October, 1859, 
the proprietors were declared, by a decree of the Supreme Judi- 
cial Court, to have forfeited all their franchises and privileges, 
by reason of non-feasance, non-user, misfeasance and neglect. 
Thus was the corporation forever extinguished. 



CHAPTEE II. 

INTRODUCTION OF MANUFACTURES. 

Modern Factory System— Inventors— Kay— Paul— Wyatt—Hargreaves—TTighs 
— Arkwright— Peel — Crompton— Watt — Cartwright — Bell — BeithoUet— 
Scheele— Chivalry of Industry— France— Manufactures in the United States 
—iJeverly—Byfield— Samuel Slater — Moses Hale— War of 1812— Phineas 
Whiting— Josiah Fletcher— Oliver M. Whipple— Thomas Kurd— Winthrop 
Howe— Bridge over the Concord— Asahel Stearns— General Varnum. 

The rise of the modern Factory System marks one of the 
grandest epochs in the progress of mankind. The arts of card- 
ing, spinning, weaving, bleaching, dyeing and printing cotton, 
woollen and linen fabrics, have been practiced from the re- 
motest ages of history, and were practiced in pre-historic 
times. Scarcely a century has elapsed since these arts were 
pursued as mere domestic handicrafts. No progress of moment 
had been made in them, no new implements had been intro- 
duced, for a thousand years. . But during the closing forty 
years of the last century, these arts were raised from a state of 
utter insignificance to a national and world-wide importance, 
and were developed into the most elaborate and mature sys- 
tem of industry the world has ever seen. 

As the great inventions which wrought this wonderful change 
were achieved long before the building of Lowell, a rapid ac- 
count of them will be all that the purposes of this history re- 
quire. But they can hardly be passed unnoticed, for without 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 29 

them Lowell must have remained a border hamlet of an ob- 
scure town. 

The first modern invention that led to any important im- 
provement in manufacturing, was John Kay's fly-shuttle, pa- 
tented in 1733, but strange to say, not introduced into this 
countr}^ for more than fifty years after it was first used in 
England. 

In 1738, Lewis Paul obtained a patent for the first machin- 
ery for spinning, — invented, several years before, by John 
Wyatt. In 1740, manufacturing was commenced at Man- 
chester, England. In 1748, Paul obtained a patent for the 
first cylinder carding-machine. In 1758, he obtained another 
patent for improved machinery for spinning. 

In 1760, Robert Kay invented the drop-box, by which fill- 
ing of different colors could be used in weaving with the fly- 
shuttle. In the same year, James Hargreaves constructed a 
carding-machine corresponding substantially with the carding- 
machines now in use. Two years later, Hargreaves obtained 
a patent for the spinning-jenney, which, however, seems to 
have been invented, in 1764, by Thomas Highs. 

In 1769, Richard Arkwright obtained a patent for his spin- 
ning frame or throstle. Six years later, he obtained another 
patent for improvements in carding, drawing and spinning. In 
1779, Robert Peel, father of the celebrated statesman, obtained 
a patent for improved machinery of the same kind. In the 
same year, Samuel Crompton combined the excellencies of 
Hargraves' jenny with Arkwright's throstle, in a new spin- 
ning-machine, which, from its hybrid nature, he called a mule. 

These triumphs of inventive skill led to the substitution, 
first, of horse-power for hand-power, and then of water-power 
for horse-power. The year 1 789 was signalized by the appli- 
cation of steam-power to manufacturing purposes, one of James 
Watt's engines being introduced in a factory in Manchester. 

In 1785, the Rev. Samuel Cartwright took out his first pa- 
tent for the power-loom. Other similar patents were after- 
3* 



30 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

ward taken out by him and by otliers ; but power-loom weav- 
ing realized only partial success until after the dressing-frame 
had been invented by Eadcliff, Eoss and Johnson in 1803; 
and 1806 is the accepted date of the successful introduction 
of the power-loom into Manchester in England. 

In 1785, Thomas Bell obtained his patent for cylinder 
printing. Calico printing, however, had been introduced by 
the Claytons, twenty years before. In the same year, Berthol- 
let first applied chlorine (then called dephlogisticated muri- 
atic acid) to bleaching. But Scheele, a Swedish chemist, had 
discovered the properties of chlorine in destroying vegetable 
colors, ten years prior to its application by Berthollet in France. 

Thus, as an able writer says, " while Burke was lamenting 
the fall of chivalry, while Hastings was extending the 
British Empire in the East, and while Pitt was initiating his 
retrograde policy, men of that class which was destined to 
reap the most benefit from the transformation, were inaugura- 
ting the industrial system, destined to succeed the first, utilize 
the second, and destroy the third. From the weaver's cottage 
at Blackburn, and from the barber's shop at Preston, went forth 
powers as pregnant with consequences to Britain [and to the 
world] as ever issued from the Parliament-House at Westmin- 
ster, or the Council-Chamber in Bengal. "=■' 

Other nations followed. In France, the genius of Napoleon 
introduced the Cotton Manufacture, including yarns, cloths, 
and prints. "Before the Empire, the art of spinning cotton 
was not known in France ; and cotton clothes were imported 
from abroad."! 

These inventions of the mechanical genius of Europe soon 
found their way to the United States. The first machinery 
for carding and spinning cotton put in operation in this coun- 
try, was started at Beverly, in Massachusetts, in 1787, and 
was driven by horse-power. Other cotton factories were soon 

* Westminster Review, April, 1861. 

t Napoleon the Third's Napoleonic Ideas, p. 69. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 31 

afterward established in Connecticut, Ehode Island, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. But the year 
1793 — the same year in which Eli Whitney gave to the world 
his invaluable legacy of the Cotton Gin — is the generally ac- 
cepted date of the Cotton Manufacture in the United States, 
since it was during that year that Samuel Slater — " the father 
of the Cotton Manufacture in America" — started his first cot- 
ton factory, with Arkwright machinery, driven by water- 
power, at Pawtucket in Khode Island. By a singular coinci- 
dence of dates, in the same year, the first factory in this coun- 
try, for carding and spinning wool by machinery, was started 
at By field in Massachusetts. 

At the commencement of the present century, the cotton and 
woollen factories of Great Britain were counted by hundreds : 
and, perhaps, a dozen such factories had been started in the 
United States.'--^ 

This rapid survey of the rise of modern manufactures brings 
us to the starting of the first carding machine in the region of 
Lowell. It was in 1801 that Moses Hale, whose father had 
long before started a fulling mill in Dracut, established 
his carding mill on Eiver Meadow Brook, — the first enterprise 
of the kind in Middlesex County. This mill still stands, be- 
tween Hale's Mills and Whipple's Mills, and was one of the 
mills which for many years were run by the late Joshua 
Mather, a native of Preston, the town of Eichard Arkwright, 
the great inventor and systematizer of cotton-spinning machin- 
ery in England. A saw-mill was also started about the same 
time by Mr. Hale, on the same stream. 

In 1805, the bridge built across Merrimack Eiver at Paw- 
tucket Falls in 1792, was demolished, and a new bridge, with 
stone piers and abutments, constructed in its place, at a cost 
exceeding fourteen thousand dollars. This bridge is still 



*Sce Batchelder'a valuable little book on the Cotton Mauufacturo; Bains' 
History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain ; Bishop's History of Amer- 
ican Manufactures; "White's Memoir of Samuel Slater, etc. 



32 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

standing, thongli essential improvements have been made in it 
from time to time. It was made free in 1860. 

The year 1812 brought the second war between the United 
States and Great Britain, when British cruisers swept our 
commerce from the seas. Until then, most of our manufac- 
tured goods had been imported from England. Domestic man- 
ufactures there were comparatively none, except such domestic 
fabrics as were spun upon the spinning-wheel, and woven upon 
the hand-loom, by the dames of the rural districts. No sooner 
was importation stopped by the war, than imported fabrics 
commanded famine prices. Public attention was irresistibly 
attracted, and a powerful impetus given, to American manu- 
factures. Large investments of capital were made ; and mills 
started up all over the Union, but more especially in Massachu- 
setts. Such of them as were started here, were driven by 
Concord Eiver power. No " wizard of mechanism " had yet 
laid his hand on the lordly Merrimack, and put it on dutj^ like 
a chained convict or a galley slave. 

In 1813, twenty-six years after the first attempt in the United 
States to manufacture cotton by machinery was made at Bev- 
erly, Captain Phineas Whiting and Major Josiah Fletcher 
erected a wooden cotton-mill on the present site of the Mid- 
dlesex Colnpany's mills, at an outlay of about three thousand 
dollars, and carried on the business with some success. John 
Golding entered upon a similar enterprise near by, about the 
same time, but failed. 

The year 1815 is associated with the tradition of the most 
disastrous gale that had swept New England since the famous 
gale of 1635, when the tide rose twenty feet perpendicularly 
in Narragansett Bay. It was particularly severe in- the town 
of Chelmsford, then including Lowell. It "spread the ruin 
round," like a devastating fire. Not less than fifty thousand 
cords of standing timber, besides several houses, were de- 
stroyed, — the trees being torn up by the roots, and the houses 
removed from their foundations. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 33 

The saw-mill and grist-mill of the Messrs. Bowers, at Paw- 
tucket Falls, were started in 1816. About the same time, 
another grist-mill was started by Nathan Tyler, where the 
Middlesex Company's Mill No. 3 now stands. At the junction 
of the Concord and Merrimack rivers, stood the saw-mill of 
Captain John Ford. There is a tradition, not very well au- 
thenticated, that Captain Ford once killed an Indian by pitch- 
ing him into the wheel-pit of this saw-mill ; the Indian being 
on the watch for a chance to take the life of the captain, wbo 
had killed one of bis brothers during a former war. 

In 1818, Moses Hale started the powder-mills on Concord 
Eiver, with forty pestles. Mr. Oliver M. Whipple and Mr. 
William Tileston of Boston engaged in the business with Mr. 
Hale in 1819. In 1821, Whipple's Canal was opened by 
them. In the same year, Moses Hale disposed of his interest 
in the business to David Hale, who retained his connection 
with it till 1827, when he in turn sold out to his partners, and 
became editor of the New York Journal of Commerce. Mr. 
Tileston retired in 1829, and Mr. Whipple remained as sole 
proprietor till 1855, when the manufacture of powder was dis- 
continued in Lowell. The business was enlarged from time to 
time, and was in its zenith during the Mexican War. Nearly 
a million pounds of powder were manufactured here during a 
single year of that contest. Mr. Whipple amassed a handsome 
fortune by the manufacture of this ''destructive element." 
W^hen Mr. Whipple first came to Lowell, in 1818, his whole 
capital was but six hundred dollars. His subsequent success 
in his business operations entities him to a high place among 
those who, v/ithout the aid of inherited vv'ealth, make their own 
fortunes, and conquor their own position in the world. 

In 1818, Thomas Hurd removed to East Chelmsford (as we 
must still call Lowell) , and purchased the cotton mill, started 
five years before, by Whiting & Fletcher. He converted it 
into a woollen mill, and ran sixteen hand-looms for the manu- 
facture of satinets. He also built a larger brick mill for the 



34 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

manufacture of the same class of goods. Mr. Hurd's mill was 
destroyed by fire, and rebuilt in 182G. About this time, be- 
ing in want of additional power, he built the Middlesex Canal, 
conveying water from Pawtucket Canal to his satinet mills. 
Mr. Hurd was the first man in this country who manufactured 
satinet by water-power, having had a mill at Stoneham before 
he came to Lowell. He continued to run these works until the 
great re-action of trade in 1828, when he became bankrupt, 
and the property, in 1830, passed into the hands of the Mid- 
dlesex Company. 

About the time of Mr. Hurd's appearance here, Winthrop 
Howe started a mill for the manufacture of flannels at Wam- 
esit Falls in Belvidere. Mr. Howe continued to manufacture 
flannels by hand-looms till 1827, when he sold his mill to 
Harrison G. Howe, who introduced power-looms in lieu of 
hand-looms, and continued the business till 1831, when he 
sold it to John Nesmith and others. 

The bridge built across the Concord near its mouth in 1774, 
was demolished in 1819, and its place supplied by a superior 
structure. The bridge on East Merrimack Street, connecting 
Belvidere with the main part of the city, stands near the site of 
the bridge of 1819, the last-named bridge having been several 
times renewed. 

The dam across Concord liiver at Massic Falls, where Eich- 
mond's Batting Mills now stand, was constructed about this 
time, and a Forging Mill established, by Messrs. Fisher & 
Ames. Their works were considerably extended in 1823, and 
continued by them till 1836, when they sold their privilege to 
Perez 0. Piichmond. 

While new men were thus coming to this place, an old and 
distinguished resident — Asahel Stearns — removed elsewhere. 
He was the pioneer lawyer of this vicinity, and has scarcely 
had a superior among all his successors. He was born at 
Lunenburg, June 17, 1774, and graduated at Harvard in 1797. 
He was educated for the bar, admitted to practice about 1800, 
and married the same year. He opened an ofiice near Paw- 



HISTORY OP LOWELL. 35 

tacket Falls, where he practiced law till 1817. He was for 
several years District Attorney ; Member of Congress in 1815- 
17 ; and in the latter year was appointed Professor of Law at 
Harvard, which position in 1829 he resigned. He published, 
in 1824:, a work of much celebrity on the Law of Keal Ac- 
tions, and was a Commissioner with Judge Jackson and Mr. 
Pickering to revise the Statutes of the Commonwealth. He 
died at Cambridge, February 5, 1839, in the sixty-fifth year of 
his age. He was a learned and skillful lawyer, a zealous advo- 
cate, a gentleman of suavity, integrity and kindness. 

Within a few years after the removal of Mr. Stearns, occur- 
red the death of the most distinguished man of the Merrimack 
Valley — Major-General Yarnum of Dracut. Born in 1751, 
Joseph B. Varnumhad accomplished the " three score years and 
ten" which the Psalmist allots to man, when, in 1821, he re- 
ceived that summons which no child of mortality can ever dis- 
obey. The record of his life shows him to have been continu- 
ally in office ; and the traditions that have survived him repre- 
sent him as a man of extraordinary native powers, highly 
developed, not so much by books as by contact with men and 
events. He was a Captain of Militia at the age of eighteen, 
through the Pievolution, and until 1787, when he became a 
Colonel. In 1802, he was made Brigadier-General, and 
three years later Major-General, which rank he retained till 
his death. From 1780 to 1795, he was an active member of 
the Massachusetts Legislature. As President of the Senate, 
he presided at the trial of Judge Prescott, and had a rough 
" passage " with Daniel Webster, who was Prescott ""s counsel. 
He was a member of the Convention which framed the State 
Constitution in 1780, and of the Convention which revised it 
in 1820. From 1795 to 1817, he was a member of Congress; 
for four of these years he was Speaker of the House, and for 
one year he was President pro tempore of the Senate. The 
traveller from Lowell on the Methuen road often turns aside, in 
passing through Dracut, to read his epitaph on the head-stone 
which stands where his ashes repose. 



36 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

CHAPTEK III. 

THE FIRST MANUFACTURING CORPORATION. 

The "Waltliam Company — The Lowell Family— Judge Lowell— John Lowell- 
Francis C. Lowell — Patrick T. Jackson — Nathan Appleton— Introduction 
of the Power-Loom— Paul Moody— Death of Francis C. Lowell— John 
Lowell, Junior. 

One of the most interesting events connected with the early 
history of the Cotton Manufacture in America, was the intro- 
duction of the power-loom, in 1814, at Waltham. The chief 
actor in this enterprise was Francis Cabot Lowell, from 
whom our city was so appropriately named. Among the others 
were Patrick Tracy Jackson, Nathan Appleton, and Paul 
Moody, who afterward became the fathers of Lowell, and in- 
troduced here " the Waltham system," in all its details of 
factory machinery, factory boarding-houses, and wages paid 
monthly in cash. Some account of these men and of this 
AValtham enterprise must therefore be given before we proceed 
to the building of the mills at Lowell. 

The Lowells are among the most distinguished families in 
America, and are the descendants of Percival Lowell, who 
emigrated from Cleaveland, near Bristol, in England, and set- 
tled in Newbury in 1639. The first member of this family 
who achieved any particular distinction was the Hon. John 
Lowell, father of Erancis Cabot Lowell, and son of the Eev. 
John Lowell, the first minister of Newburyport. He was a 
leading member of the Provincial Assembly in 1776, and of 
the Convention which framed the Constitution of Massachu- 
setts in 1780. He was the principal champion of the move- 
ment for the abolition of slavery in this State in 1783, — an 
active and influential member of the Continental Congress, — 
Judge of the Court of Appeals in Admiralty, appointed by 
Congress, — and the first Judge of the District Court of Mas- 
sachusetts, by appointment of President AVashington. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 37 

Judge Lowell died in 1802. His sons all rose to distinc- 
tion. One of them, John Lowell, always refused to accept 
public office, but wielded a controlling influence in the Federal 
party for more than twenty years, — held the highest rank in 
the profession of the Law, — was one of the founders of the 
Massachusetts General Hospital, the Boston Athenaeum, the 
Boston Savings Bank, the Hospital Life Insurance Company, 
and other institutions for the public good, and died of apo- 
plexy in 1840, at the age of seventy years. 

Francis Cabot Lowell, another son of the distinguished 
Judge Lowell, was born in Newburyport, April 7th, 1774, and 
graduated at Harvard in 1783. He engaged in mercantile 
business, with good success, in Boston. His friend and asso- 
ciate, Patrick Tracy Jackson, was also born in Newburyport, in 
1780, and was the son of the Hon. Jonathan Jackson, who was 
a member of the Continental Congress in 1782, and filled other 
distinguished positions in State and Nation. As Marshal of 
the District of Massachusetts, by appointment of President 
Washington, the father of Mr. Jackson served the monitions, 
etc., issued by the father of Mr. Lowell, as Judge of the Dis- 
trict Court. 

Nathan Appleton was one year senior to Mr. Jackson, and 
five years junior to Mr. Lowell, having been born in 1779, at 
New Ipswich in New Hampshire. In 1794, he engaged in 
commercial pursuits, at Boston, v/ith his brother, Samuel Ap- 
pleton, whose partner he became as soon as he attained his 
majority, in 1800. In the next year, business called him to 
Europe. While in France, he met Napoleon Bonaparte, then 
firmly seated in the Consular Chair, and preparing to ascend 
the Imperial Throne, — his star burning brightly in the 
zenith, — his brow radiant with the glory of Marengo. 
In 1810, Appleton's business again called him to Europe. 
In 1811, at Edinburgh, he met his Boston friend, Francis 
Cabot Lowell ; and the meeting, as we shall see, proved prolific 
of results. 
4 



38 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The restraints imposed on commerce, which finally culmina- 
ted in the war of 1812, led Mr. Lowell to close his business as 
a merchant; and in 1810, on account of the feebleness of his 
health, he visited England with his family, and spent two 
years in that country and in Scotland. While there, his mind 
became deeply impressed with the importance of manufactur- 
ing industry as a source of national wealth ; and he took pains 
to make himself master of all the information that was obtain- 
able, touching the machinery and processes that had been in- 
troduced by the manufacturers of Great Britain, with a view 
to their introduction into the United States. It was while full 
of these plans that he met Mr. Appleton at Edinburgh, as 
already stated. Mr. Appleton entered readily into his 
designs, urged him to go on wdth them, and promised coopera- 
tion. 

In 1813, Lowell returned to Boston, with a fixed idea that 
the Cotton Manufacture, then monopolized by Great Britain, 
could be successfully introduced here. He saw and admitted 
that the advantages of cheap labor, abundant capital, superior 
skill, and established reputation, were all on the side of the 
English. But the raw cotton could be procured cheaper here ; 
water-power was more abundant than in England ; and he 
thought that the superior intelligence and enterprise of the 
American population would ensure the success of the Cotton 
Manufacture in these States, in spite of the competition of all 
Europe, 

Mr. Lowell communicated these ideas to his brother-in-law 
and fellow-townsman, Patrick Tracy Jackson, whose business 
had been suspended by the war then flagrant between Great 
Britain and the United States. Jackson eagerly enlisted in the 
enterprise, and was not discouraged by difficulties which would 
have thwarted a less resolute man. The result was, the incor- 
poration of Messrs. Lowell, Jackson, Appleton and others as 
the Boston Manufacturing Company, with a capital of one 
hundred thousand dollars, followed by the purchase of water- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



^9 



power at Waltliam, and the successful starting of the power- 
loom in 181-l:/'-= 

The Waltham power-loom, in so far as it diifered from the 
power-loom previously introduced in Great Britain, was the 
sole product of Mr. Lowell's genius ; and his success is the 
more remarkable from the fact that he had no model to go by, 
but only his own recollections of his observations in Europe, 
aided by imperfect drawings, brought with him on his return. 

Being in want of a practical mechanic, Mr. Lowell and his 
associates secured Paul Moody, whose mechanical skill was 
well known, and whose success fully justified the choice. Mr. 
Moody was born in Amesbury in 1777, and had been for some 
time engaged in the manufacturing business in that town, in 
connection with Mr. Ezra Worthen. His aid was invaluable 
in the starting of the first mill at Waltham, though he did 
not remove to reside there till 1814. 

The original design of Messrs. Low^ell and Jackson was only 
to start a weaving-mill, and to buy their yarn of others. No 
such establishment as a mill where raw cotton was manufac- 
tured into finished cloth, without going through different 
hands, and forming two distinct businesses, was then dreamed 
of. The practice was to run spinning-mills and weaving-mills 
as separate establishments. But as soon as their loom was 
completed, they found it expedient to spin their own yarn, 
rather than to buy it of others. They accordingly fitted up 
a mill with seventeen hundred spindles, at Waltham. 

Their sizing-machine they constructed by improving upon 
Horrock's dressing-machine, patented in England. Mr. Lowell 
and Mr. Moody both had a hand in the invention of their 
double-speeder for spinning. The mathematical scholarship of 
Mr. Lowell was as indispensable to its success as the mechan- 



P The first brond power loom was constructed and started in 1817, at Gosh- 
en, Conn., by Lewis M. Norton, whoobtait;ed the idea of it from the Edinburgh* 
Encyclopaedia. Mr. Norton, however, realized poor success in the manufacture 
of broadcloth. See his Letter to Samuel Lawrence, Lowell Coterie?^, April 22, 
1843, 



40 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

ical ingenuity of Mr. Moody. The peculiar invention of Mr. 
Moody was the filling-throstle. The machines invented or 
improved by these ingenious men were substantially the same 
as those now in use, though subsequent inventions have still 
further improved and perfected them. 

The enterprise proved a splendid success ; the capital stock 
of the Company was increased, first to four hundred thousand, 
and afterward to six hundred thousand dollars, and the busi- 
ness extended as far as the water-power of Waltham and Water- 
town would permit. The original suggestion and most of the 
chief plans were made b}^ Mr. Lowell, who was the informing 
soul of the whole proceeding-; and when the enterprise was 
fairly started, the general management of it was committed to 
Mr. Jackson. 

While cotton cloth was selling at thirty-three cents per 
yard, Mr. Lowell, fired with the presentiment of what his 
plans would accomplish, predicted to a friend, that ** within 
fifty years, cotton cloth would be sold for four-pence a yard.'* 
The prediction was called " visionary " then ; but it has long 
since been realized. Our far-sighted adventurers were fre- 
quently advised, by meddlesome outsiders and gossiping Mrs. 
Grundys, that they would soon overdo their new business. No 
sooner did one mill send forth its cloth, than all agreed that it 
would be the last. The markets would be glutted. Goods 
would lie by, and rot in the warehouses. Bankruptcy, ruin, 
pauperism, would ensue. But our adventurers kept right on, 
paying no attention to the Mrs. Grundys. True, they saw 
not all the future, nor "half the wonders that would be;" 
but they remained firm in the conviction that by improved ma- 
chinery they could compete successfully with England in all 
the markets of the globe ; and experience has proved that this 
conviction was not without foundation. 

The peace of 1815 proved ruinous to many of our manufac- 
turers, whose business had been greatly inflated by the war. 
In 1816, a new tariff was to be made; and ^Ir. Lowell visited 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 41 

Washington, to impress upon members of Congress the impor- 
tance, the prospects and the dangers of the Cotton Manufac- 
ture, and the policy of shielding it from foreign competition 
by legislative protection. Constitutional objections have often, 
in more recent times, been urged against the protective system. 
No objection of this kind was then heard of. The New Eng- 
land States were too exclusively engaged in commerce to listen 
to him ; but the Middle States favored the new plan. The 
States of the West were divided ; the South, as usual, held the 
balance of power ; and Mr. Lowell's appeal to the interests of 
the Southern planters prevailed. The famous minimum duty 
of 6i cents per square yard on imported cotton fabrics was 
proposed by Mr. Lowell, recommended by Mr. Lowndes, advo- 
cated by Mr. Calhoun, and incorporated into the tariff of 1816. 

In this way, American Manufactures were protected from 
JBritish competition, and nursed into a vigorous life. It is to 
this provision of law, says Mr. Everett, that " New England 
owes that branch of industry which has made her amends for 
the diminution of her foreign trade ; which has kept her pros- 
perous under the exhausting drain of her population to the 
West ; which has brought a market for his agricultural pro- 
duce to the farmer's door ; and which, while it has conferred 
these blessings on this part of the country, has been produc- 
tive of good, and nothing but good, to every portion of it." 

The whole credit of this policy is due to Mr. Lowell. But 
be did not live to witness the realization of his plans. " Man 
proposes, but G-od disposes." He died in Boston, September 
2d, 1817, at the age of forty-three; and committed to others 
the completion of his vast designs. Like his brother, the em- 
inent lawyer, he shunned public office ; but he contributed 
more than a thousand of the common herd of hum-drum states- 
men to the advancement of national industry and well-being. 
As Mr, Everett eloquently says: " In the great Temple of 
Nature, — whose foundations are the earth, — whose pillars are 
the eternal hills, — whose roof is the star-lit sky, — whose organ 
40 



42 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

tones are the wliispering breeze and tlie sounding storm, — 
whose architect is God, — there is no ministry more sacred than 
that of the intelligent mechanic." ••= 

His son, John Lowell, was worthy of his sire. AVander- 
ing amid the ruins of Thebes, and feeling the approaches of 
death, by his last will, " penned with a tired hand on the top 
of a palace of the Pharaohs," he made a princely betjuest of 
$240,000 to found the Lowell Institute at Boston. 



CHAPTER IV. 



manufacturing history of LOWELL. 

Purchase of Pawtucket Caual— First Visit— Merrimack Company— Reconstruc- 
tion of the Canal— Kirk Boott— Ezra Worthen— Paul Moody— Warren Col- 
burn — Calico Printing — John D. Prince — Management of the Merrimack 
Company — Reorganization of the Locks and Canals Company — James B. 
Francis — Hamilton Company — Samuel Batchelder — Management of the 
Hamilton — Appleton Company — Lowell Companj' — Proposed Reform in 
Sales — Middlesex Company — Ruin and Re-organization — Suffolk Company 
—Tremout— Lawrence — Bleachery — Boott Company— Belvidere Company- 
Perez O. Richmond — Massachusetts Company— Dismissal of Operatives — 
Men of whom more might have been made — Whitney Mills — Machine Shop 
— Prescott Company — Miscellaneous Manufacturers and Mechanics — In- 
creased Productivity in the Future. 

In 1821, Messrs. Appleton and Jackson, elated with the 
splendid success of their establishment at Waltham, were look- 
ing about for water-power for operations on a more gigantic 
scale. In September, 1821, they examined the water-fall at 
Souhegan, but found it insufficient. In returning, they passed 
the Nashua Eiver, but they were not aware of the existence of 
the fall which the Nashua Company have since improved ; 

* See Edward Everett's Memoir of John Lowell; Robert C. Winthrop's 
Memoir of Nathan Appleton ; John A. Lowell's Memoir of Patrick T. Jackson ; 
Nathan Appleton's Introduction of the Power-Loom and Origin of Lowell, etc. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 43 

neither were they aware of the existence of the water-power 
of the Pawtucket Canal. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Moody, 
while on a visit to Amesbury, mentioned to Ezra Worthen 
that the company at Waltham were in quest of water-power. 
Mr. Worthen had been familiar with Pawtucket Falls from his 
boyhood, and very naturall}^ replied, "Why don't they buy up 
Pawtucket Canal ? That will give them all the power of Mer- 
rimack Eiver. They can put up as many mills as they please 
there, and never want for water." 

On returning to Waltham, Mr. Moody went out of his way 
to look at the canal, and Mr. Worthen accompanied him. Ar- 
riving at Waltham, they related to Mr. Tackson a description 
of the place, and Mr. Worthen chalked out upon the floor a 
map of Merrimack River, including both Pawtucket Falls and 
the Canal. Mr. Jackson listened eagerly to their story, and was 
soon convinced that a large manufacturing town could here be 
built up. The great idea of possessing himself of the whole 
power of Merrimack River filled his mind; and with charac- 
teristic sagacity, he at once put himself in communication with 
Thomas M. Clark, of Newburyport, the Agent of the Pawtucket 
Canal Company, and secured the refusal of most of the shares 
of the stock of that Company at less than par. 

Mr. Appleton and Kirk Boott entered eagerly into the en- 
terprise with Mr. Jackson, and, through the agency of Mr. 
Clark and others, all the stock of the Canal Company was 
purchased, and some of the lands needed for using the water- 
power. But the wisest men cannot foresee everything. Four 
farms, containing about four hundred acres, covering what is 
now the most densely peopled portion of Lowell, were bought 
at from one to two hundred dollars per acre ; and most of the 
lands thus purchased were afterward sold at from twelve cents 
to a dollar per foot. But there was a great deal more land 
which the founders of Lowell then overlooked ; and when 
these lands were wanted, the proprietors were shrewd enough 
to fix their own prices, and at a pretty high figure too. 



44 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The value of land was of course suddenly largely enhanced. 
For example: — Nine undivided tenths of, the Moses Cheever 
farm were bought in 1821 for eighteen hundred dollars ; and 
the owner of the other one-tenth had agreed to convey the same 
for two hundred dollars. Before he had conveyed it, however, 
he died, suddenly, insolvent ; and the one-tenth was sold by 
order of court. But such had been the increase in its value, 
that the Locks and Canals Company paid upward of three 
thousand dollars for seven and a half-tenths of it ; and the re- 
maining two and a half-tenths were sold, one year afterward, 
for upward of five thousand dollars. =••= 

In November, 1821, Nathan Appleton, Patrick T. Jackson, 
Kirk Boott, Warren Button, Paul Moody, and John W. Boott, 
made a visit to the canal, perambulated the ground, and scan- 
ned the capabilities of the place ; and the remark was made 
that some of them might live to see the place contain twenty 
thousand inhabitants. Nathan Appleton did, indeed, live to 
see it contain nearly forty thousand. Here, in the vicinity 
of Boston, was a river, with a water-shed of four thousand 
square miles, delivering its volume of water over a fall of 
thirty feet. Evidently, the Manchester of America was to be 
here. 

On the fifth of February, 1822, these gentlemen and others 
were incorporated as the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, 
with Warren Dutton as President. Their capital, at first, was 
$600,000 ; but this capital has been four times increased, and 
is now $2,500,000. The first business of the new company 
was to erect the dam across the Merrimack at Pawtucket Falls, 
widen and deepen Pawtucket Canal, renew the locks, and open 
a lateral canal from the main canal to the river, on the margin 
of which their mills were to stand. Five hundred men were 
employed in digging and blasting, and six thousand pounds of 
powder were used. The canal, as reconstructed, is sixty feet 

* Miles's Lowell as it Was and as it Is. 




^i:^?tCJ^r^ 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 45 

wide, and eiglit feet deep, and capable of supplying fifty mills. 
It has three sets of locks. 

In deepening this canal, ledges were uncovered, which 
showed indisputable marks of the attrition of water. Many 
cavities were found in the ledge, such as are usual where there 
are water-falls, worn by stones kept in motion by the water. 
Some of these cavities measured a foot or more in diameter, 
and two feet in depth. Here had once been the channel of the 
Merrimack. 

The first mill of the company was completed, and the first 
wheel started, September 1st, 1823. The first return of cloth 
was made in the following jSTovember. The bricks used in 
building the mills of this and the succeeding manufacturing 
corporations, were boated chiefly from Bedford and Merrimack, 
in New Hampshire. 

The first Treasurer and Agent was Kirk Boott. He was 
born in Boston in 1791, and received an academic education 
at the famous Bugby School in England. He entered Harvard 
College, but never graduated. His tastes being military, a 
commission was purchased for him ; and he served five years 
as an officer in the British Army. He fought under Welling- 
ton in the Peninsular War, and commanded a detachment of 
troops at the siege of San Sebastian, in 1813. His courage 
was perfectly bullet-proof. When the wars of Napoleon ended 
with his captivity at St. Helena, Boott resigned his commis- 
sion, and, in 1817, returned to Boston. Through the intimacy 
that arose between him and Mr. Jackson, while the latter was 
agent of the mills at Waltham, he was employed as the com- 
pany's agent. He established himself here in the spring of 
1822, took charge of the mills, and infused into the whole 
place much of his own determined spirit and unconquerable 
will. He became, by the general consent of all, the man of 
the place, so that for fifteen years the history of Lowell was 
little more than the biography of Kirk Boott. 



46 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Ezra AVorthen removed here at the same time with Mr. 
Boott, and his services as suiDcrintendent were of inestimable 
value. Like Mr. Lowell, Mr. Worthen was not permitted to 
see even " the beginning of the end " of his plans. He died 
June 18th, 1824. 

Mr. Moody also removed here from Waltham, in 1823, and 
took the charge of the company's machine shop. This shop 
was completed in 1825, and cost one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars. He remained in this position during a period of 
eight years, when his labors were terminated by death, July 
5th, 1831. Born and bred a mechanic, Mr. Moody was none the 
less a gentleman. Skill in mechanism was his forte ; but his 
general capacity was large ; and when he died, all felt that 
one of the ablest citizens, and one of the most estimable men, 
had fallen. 

The place left vacant by Mr. AVorthen, in 1824, was subse- 
quently filled by AVarren Colburn, the distinguished author of 
a series of popular school-books on Arithmetic. Mr. Colburn 
was born in Dedham in 1793, and graduated at Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1820, at the ripe age of twenty-seven years. He 
was distinguished while at college for his assiduous devotion 
to the mathematics. After graduating, he engaged as a school- 
teacher in Boston, and while thus employed prepared those 
works on Arithmetic which have forever intimately associated 
his name with that science. Prior to Air. AVortheu's decease, 
Mr. Colburn had acquired some experience in charge of the 
mills at AValtham. His abilities were such as amply enabled him 
to fill Air. AA^orthen's place. " He readily perceived and appre- 
ciated the peculiar character of a manufacturing community in 
New England, and projected at once a scheme of lecturing, 
adapted to popular improvement."" He actually delivered in 
Lowell several courses of the best Lyceum Lectures, several 
years before any popular Lyceums were organized at all. He 

* See Edson's excellent Memoir of Warren Colburnj in Barnard's American 
Joiirnal of Education, September, 1856. 






--^ ^ 




JOHN D. PRINCE. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 47 

died September 13th, 1833, Though he filled no higher offi- 
ces than those of factory superintendent, church warden, 
school committee, college committee, lyceum lecturer and writer 
of school-books, Mr. Colburn was nevertheless one of the great 
men of America. Here he will be especially remembered for 
his efforts, in connection with Eev. Dr. Edson, to build up, 
upon a permanent basis, that complete system of public schools, 
which is the pride of the place. 

The successors of Mr. Colburn as Superintendents of the 
Merrimack Mills have been, from 1833 to 1848, John Clark ; 
in 1848, Emory Washburn, afterward Governor of the Com- 
monwealth ; in 1849, Edmund Le Breton ; from 1850 to 1866, 
Isaac Hinckley, who was succeeded by John C. Palfrey. 

The founders of the Merrrimack Company had from the 
first contemplated the introduction of calico-printing. *' I was 
of opinion," says Appleton, " that the time had arrived, when 
the manufacture and printing of calicos might be successfully 
introduced into this country. "••^ And although calicos were 
probably printed at Taunton and Dover before they were at 
Lowell, the attempt was first begun here, under Allan Pol- 
lock. The printing business, however, was not perfected to 
any considerable degree until 1826, when the late John D. 
Prince, senior, resigned his position at Manchester in Eng- 
land to take the Superintendency of the Merrimack Print 
Works. Here he remained till 1855, when Henry W. Bur- 
rows succeeded him. The skill of Mr. Prince, assisted by Dr. 
Samuel L. Dana as chemist, won for the Merrimack Prints an 
unequalled renown in all parts of the globe. On his retire- 
ment, the Company gave him an annuity of $2,000 per annum. 
He did not, however, live long to enjoy it, but died suddenly, 
January 5th, 1860, at the age of eighty years, leaving to us^ 
and to the Lowellians of the future, the grateful memory of a 
fine old English gentlemen, — "one of the real old stock," — 

* Origin of Lowell, p. 17. 



48 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

who dispensed to bis friends a baronial hospitality, and to the 
poor a charity that was as liberal as his own resources. 

The Merrimack Company have divided upon an average a 
dividend of thirteen per cent, on their stock. For many years, 
fabrics bearing their imperial name have commanded a cent 
a yard more than the fabrics of other companies equal in cost 
and equal in intrinsic quality. Such a result can only be as- 
cribed to the consummate ability of the Company's managers. 
Voltaire said, he knew many merchants in Amsterdam, of more 
penetration and administrative ability than Ximcnes, Mazarin 
or Eichelieu. So may we say, that the men whose sagacity 
achieved such remarkable success in the business of manufac- 
turing, were men of far higher calibre than those who have 
generally presided over the Executive Departments at Wash- 
ington. 

During the late AVar, however, the Merrimack Company 
showed great " lack of sagacity and forethought "=■= — in stopping 
their mills — in dismissing their operatives — in discontinuing 
the purchase of cotton — and in selling their fabrics at a slight 
advance on their peace prices, and at less than the actual cost 
of similar fabrics at the time of sale. Had they not committed 
this stupendous blunder, they might have realized many mil- 
lions of dollars during the War. But instead of boldly run- 
ning, as companies elsewhere did, they took counsel of their 
fears, and their spacious mills stood on the bank 

"As idle as a painted sliip upon a painted ocean." 

The blunders of this company were naturally copied by 
others — the younger companies being accustomed to " dress " on 
the Merrimack. In this instance, the blunders of the older 
company were not only copied, but exaggerated and intensified 
to a fatal degree. The other cotton companies actually sold 
out their cotton, and several of them made abortive experiments 
in other branches of manufactures, by which they incurred 

* Report of the Committee of the Proprietors, 1863. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 49 

losses, direct and indirect, exceeding the amount of their en- 
tire capital. It is but fair to add, that most of these abortive 
experiments were made in opposition to the judgment of the 
local agents. 

The Merrimack have five mills and print works, with 100,- 
000 spindles, and 2,450 looms. When all are in operation, 
they employ 1,700 females and 700 males. Their weekly con- 
sumption of cotton is 80,000 pounds, and their return of 
cloth 450,000 yards. They print 500,000 yards per week of 
Prints, Xo. 80 to 37, and Chintzes. 

In 1825, the old Locks and Canals Company of 1792 was 
reestablished as a separate corporation. The Merrimack Com- 
pany, at the time of their incorporation, owned the original 
charter of the Locks and Canals Company, the entire water- 
power of Merrimack Eiver, and the lands abutting thereon. 
The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals were now reorganized, 
with an amendment to their charter, allowing them to purchase, 
hold, sell or lease land and water-power, to the amount of 
$600,000. The Merrimack Company conveyed to the Locks 
and Canals Company all their water-power and all their lands ; 
and then so much of it as was required for their own purposes, 
was reconveyed to the Merrimack Company. By this arrange- 
ment, the Merrimack Company was placed upon the same basis 
as other manufacturing companies more recently established. 
The Locks and Canals Company had other objects to pur- 
sue. The affairs of this company, in addition to those of the 
Merrimack, were placed in the master hand of Kirk Boott. On 
the death of Mr, Boott, in 1837, Joseph Tilden became Agent 
for one year, when Patrick T. Jackson succeeded him. Mr. 
Jackson was succeeded for a short time by William Boott. In 
1845, James B. Francis was appointed Agent, and in this posi- 
tion, which he has ever since retained, he has earned the dis- 
tinction of the best water-engineer in the United States. He 
had been eleven years engineer of this company, when the duties 
of Agent were superadded to his duties as engineer. At first, 
5 



50 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

he was associated with that excellent engineer, George W. 
Whistler, father of James Whistler, the gifted artist. 

For twenty years, the business of this company was, to fur- 
nish land and water-power, and build mills and machinery for 
the various manufacturing companies successively organized in 
Lowell. After all the mill-powers were disposed of, another re- 
organization took place. The standard adopted for a mill-power 
was the power required to run the second mill built at Waltham, 
which contained 3584 spindles, — or the right to draw twenty- 
five cubic feet of water per second, on a fall of thirty feet, be- 
ing about sixty horse power. •■^ This company have never en- 
gaged in manufacturing operations. They kept in operation 
two machine shops, a foundry, and a saw-mill, until 1845, 
when the Lowell ^Machine Shop was incorporated to take 
the charge of this business. They constructed all the mill-canals 
to supply the various companies with water-power, and erected 
most of the mills, and the boarding-houses attached to them, 
together with most of the machinery which they severally con- 
tain. They employed constantly from five to twelve hundred 
men, and built two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth 
of machinery per annum. The stock was long the best of which 
Lowell could boast, being worth thrice, and even four times its 
par value. Their present business is to superintend the use 
.of the water-power, which is leased by them to the several com- 
panies. Their stock is held by these companies in the same 
proportion in which they hold the water-power. 

The first sale of water-power was to the Hamilton Manufac- 
turing Company, incorporated in 1825, with a capital of $600,- 
000, afterward increased to $1,200,000. The first Agent of 
this Company was Samuel Batchelder. It was under his skill- 
ful management that the power-loom was here first applied to 
twilled and fancy goods, and that cotton drills were first man- 
ufactured. Mr. Batchelder was born at Jaff"rey, in New Hamp- 
shire, in 1784, five years before the first cotton mill was started 

*^ Appleton's Origiu of Loy>-ell, p. 28. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 51 

in America. He assisted in starting one of tlie first cotton 
mills in his native State, in 1807. On quitting the Hamilton, 
he assisted in establishing the York Mills at Saco, Maine, of 
which he has been for many years Treasurer, as well as of the 
Everett Mills at Lawrence. With his remarkable business 
habits, he has always combined the love of books ; and his 
work on the Cotton Manufacture is one of the most valuable 
contributions yet made to the literature of that prolific theme. 
Mr. Batchelder was followed in the Agency of the Hamilton, in 
1831, by the late John Avery, to whom in 1864 Oliver H. 
Moulton succeeded. 

Following the example of the Merrimack, the Hamilton 
Company established Print Works, of which the late William 
Spencer was Superintendent till his death, September 27th, 
1862. William Hunter was then appointed Superintendent, 
and to him in 1863 succeeded William Harley. 

The management of the Hamilton during the War was par- 
ticularly unfortunate. Xot only were the mistakes of the 
Merrimack repeated here ; but — what was worse — when the 
War was drawing to a close, the Hamilton threw out a large 
portion of their cotton machinery, and put in a lot with which 
to manufacture woollen goods, and purchased a large *stock of 
fine wool, paying for this machinery and wool the ruinpu'B 
prices which the War had entailed. Thus, they superadded to^. 
their losses by the War, a new category of losses caused by 
the collapse of prices on the return of peace. 

The Hamilton have five mills and print works, with 51,268 
spindles and 1,348 looms, requiring the labor of 850 females 
and 425 males. Their weekly consumption of cotton is 50,000 
pounds, and of clean wool 10,000. Their weekly product is 
235,000 yards of Delaines, Fiaffnels, Prints, Ticks, Sheetings, 
and Shirtings, No. 10 to No. 53. The number of yards printed 
per week is 120,000, and the number dyed is 6,000, 

In 182S, the Appleton Company was incorporated, 
with a capital of ^600,000. John Avery was their Agent 



52 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

till 1831, wlien George Motley succeeded him. It was in the 
mills of this company that Uriah A. Boyden's famous turbine 
water-wheels were first used with success. =■••= Though the man- 
agers of the Appleton, during the late War, shared, for a time, 
the delusion that the country would have "peace in sixty 
days," and under that delusion sold their cotton, and allowed 
their mills to stand idle, they acquired, quicker than many 
others, a true view of the national situation ; and the manage- 
ment of this company, when tested by its results during a pe- 
riod of nearly forty years, must be pronounced successful in 
an eminent degree. 

The Appleton have three mills, with 20,608 spindles, and 
717 looms. They employ, when running to their full capacity, 
400 females and 120 males. Their weekly consumption of 
cotton is 50,000 pounds, and their weekly return of cloth is 

^ - 130,000 yards of Sheetings and Shirtings, Nos. 14 and 20. 

In 1828, the Lowell Manufacturing Company was incorpo- 

\' rated, with a capital of $900,000, since increased to $2,000,- 
000. In starting their jacquard looms they employed Clau- 
dius Wilson, one of the most ingenious and useful mechanics 
that has ever appeared in Lowell, who emigrated from Scot- 
land to enter this company's service. This company's mills 
were the first in the world where power-looms were introduced 
for weaving woollen carpets. These looms were invented by 
E. B. Bigelow, and rank among the most wonderful triumphs 
of mechanical genius the world has ever witnessed. Alexander 
Wright was Agent of this Company till his death in 1852, 
when Samuel Fay succeeded him. 

In 1859, a discussion arose among the stockholders touch- 
ing the mode of selling their products. An attempt was made 
to make the selling agents per^nail}' interested in augmenting 
their sales, and enhancing the income from the company's 



Francis' Lowell Hydraulic Experiments. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 53 

stock.^-' This change has been successfully made by the Mid- 
dlesex, but has not yet been adopted by the Lowell. 

The Lowell have one carpet mill, one worsted mill, and one 
cotton mill. The number of spindles run is 12,500 on worsted 
and wool, and 2,816 on cotton. They employ 1,000 females 
and 450 males, and consume 4,000 pounds of cotton, and 63,- 
000 of clean wool, per week. Their productive power is 35,- 
000 yards of Carpets, 18,000 of Sheetings, and 4,500 of 
Stuffed Goods, per week. They have 432 looms, of which 
258 weave Carpets, 124 Cottons, and 50 Stuffed Goods. 

In 1830, Samuel Lawrence, William W. Stone, and others 
were incorporated as the Middlesex Company, with a capital 
of $500,000,— afterward increased to $1,000,000, but subse- 
quently reduced to $750,000, — and engaged in the manufac- 
ture of broadcloths, cassimeres, etc. James Cook was the 
Agent of this Company's mills for fifteen years. He was suc- 
ceeded, in 1845, by Nelson Palmer, — in 1846, by Samuel 
Lawrence, — and in 1848, by Oliver H. Perry, who retained 
the Agency for three years. In 1851, William T. Mann be- 
came Agent, but was succeeded, in 1852, by Joshua Hum- 
phrey, who remained in charge six years. In January, 1858, 
James Cook was recalled. Nine months later, Oliver H. Perry- 
was recalled. 

The mismanagement of the Middlesex Company's affairs 
during many years was astonishing. The entire capital of the 
Company was lost through the mistakes and irregularities of 
Samuel Lawrence, William W. Stone and their associates. In 
1858, the Company was reorganized, with new. managers and a 
new subscription of stock. Five hundred shares, of the par 
value of one hundred dollars each, formed the capital with 
which the Middlesex Company took their " new departure " in 



* Report of Dr. Ayer, Peter Lawsou and H. J. Adams, the Committee of 
the Proprietors, 1859. 

50 



54 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

the voyage of lite/'-= This capital has since been increased to 
$750,000. 

Until now, all our manufacturing companies had sold their 
products through commission-houses in Boston and New York, 
whose compensation was determined by the gross amount of 
sales — not by the amount of profits. The wisdom of this pol- 
icy had been often questioned by sagacious stockholders, with- 
out, however, leading to any change. The Middlesex Com- 
pany now adopted a diflFerent mode of selling their products, 
making their sales through their Treasurer, whose com- 
pensation depended mainly upon the profits realized by the 
Company. By this arrangement, the business of selling was 
kept directly under the Company's control, and the interests of 
the selling agent made identical with those of the Company. 
Since their reorganization, they have been remarkably success- 
ful, — their per centage of profits exceeding those of any other 
company in Lowell. 

The Middlesex have three mills and dye-houses, with fifty 
^ets of cards, consuming 25,000 pounds of wool per week. 
They run 1G,400 spindles, 240 broad and 22 narrow looms. 
They employ 452 males and 320 females, producing Broad- 
cloths, Doeskins, Cassimeres and Shawls. 

The Suffolk Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 
1831, with $GOO,COO capital. Robert Means was their Agent 
until 1842, when John Wright succeeded him. They have 
two mills. 

An ill-advised experiment in the manufacture of cassimeres 
was made by the Suffolk, during the War, but it aborted, leav- 
ing them depleted of their capital. When in full operation, 
they run 21,432 spindles, and 815 looms, — employ 410 females 
and 205 males, — consume 30,000 pounds of cotton per week, 

*Dr. Ayer and Geu. Butler bought largely of this stock, and their invest- 
ments yielded them splendid returns. Those who think Gen. Butler's for- 
tune was derived solely from the plunder of Louisiana and Virginia, should look 
into the Company's books, and learn their mistake. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 55 

— and make 125,000 yards, per week, of Corset Jeans, Sheetings, 
and Shirtings, Nos. 14 to 22. 

The Proprietors of the Tremont Mills were incorporated in 
1831. Their capital is ^600,000, and they have two mills. 
Their Agents have been, from 1831 to 1834, Israel Whitney; 
from 1834 to 1837, John Aiken ; from 1837 to 1859, Charles 
L. Tilden; and since 1859, Charles F. Battles. 

The experiment in cassimeres which was made .by the Suf- 
folk, was repeated by the Tremont, both having the same 
Treasurer — Henry V. Ward. The same disasters followed, 
and here too cassimeres were discarded. The productive ca- 
pacity of the Tremont is about equal to that of the Suffolk, — 
viz : 20,960 spindles, and 764 looms, run by 500 females and 
120 males. The weekly consumption of cotton, when in full 
operation, is 37,000 pounds, and the weekly return of cloth 
135,000 yards of Sheetings and Shirtings, Nos. 14 to 20, and 
Flannels. 

The Lawrence Manufacturing Company were incorporated in 
1831. Their capital is $1,500,000 ; and they have five mills 
and dye-houses. William Austin was their Agent till 1837, 
when John Aiken was transferred from the Tr.emont Mills. In 
1849, Mr. xiiken was succeeded by William S. South worth, 
who remained till 1865, when William F. Salmon succeeded him. 

The Lawrence had the same Treasurer during the War as 
the Suffolk and Tremont ; but instead of experimenting in cas- 
simeres, the Lawrence engaged in hosiery, incurring, directly 
and indirectly, a loss of half a million dollars. The Lawrence 
have 60,432 spindles, 1,564 looms, and 163 knitting machines, 
requiring the labor of 1,350 females and 350 males. Their 
weekly consumption of cotton, when all their machinery is run- 
ning, is 110,000 pounds, and 2,000 of wool. Their fabrics 
are Shirtings, Sheetings, Printing Cloth, Cotton and Merino 
Hosiery. 

In 1831, the Suffolk and Western Canals were cut, to supply 
the Suffolk, Tremont and Lawrence with water-power. 



56 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The Lowell Bleachery was incorporated in 1832, with a cap- 
ital of $50,000, since increased to $300,000. Jonathan Derby 
was in charge the first year. From 1833 to 1835, Joseph 
Hoyt was in charge. Then succeeded Charles T. Appleton, 
who retained the Agency till 1846, when Charles A. Bahcock 
succeeded him. The present Agent, Frank P. Appleton, suc- 
ceeded Mr. Babcock, in 1853. 

The Bleachery establishment consists of four mills and dye- 
houses, employing 360 males and 40 females. They dye 15,- 
000,000 yards, and bleach 8,000,000 yards, of cloth per annum. 

The Boott Cotton Mills were incorporated in 1S35, with a 
capital of $1,200,000, and commenced operations in 1836. 
Benjamin F. French had charge of these mills till 1845, when 
Linus Child succeeded him. In 1862, William A. Burke was 
transferred from the Machine Shop to succeed Mr. Child. 
When Mr. Burke came, the stock of the Boott had fallen forty 
per cent, below par, and was paying no dividends. Since then 
an extensive policy of reconstruction has been pursued ; the 
stock has risen to par, and has paid good dividends. 

The Boott have five mills, with 71,324 spindles and 1,878 
looms, employing 1,020 females and 290 males. Their weekly 
consumption of cotton is 100,000 pounds, and their weekly 
return of cloth 350,000 yards of No. 14 Drillings, Sheetings, 
Shirtings and Printing Cloth, No. 30 to No. 40. 

In 1832, W. B. Park, of Boston, purchased the flannel mill 
near AVamesit Falls, in Belvidere, of John Nesmith, who, as 
we have previously seen, had purchased these premises of Har- 
rison G. Howe. Mr. Park divided most of the lands adjoining 
into convenient lots and sold them at an enhanced price to a num- 
ber of individual purchasers. Without observing too rigid an 
adherence to the order of chronology, we will here give the 
remaining history of these mills. In 1834, Eliphalet Barber, 
Walter Farnsworth, and George Hill, of Boston, purchased 
these mills of Mr. Park, and carried on the business until 1851, 
as the Belvidere Flannel Manufacturing Compajiy. They also 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 57 

extended their business hy the purchase of the stone mill, 
which had before been owned by the Whitney Mills. In 
1851, Charles Stott and Walter Farnsworth bought out the 
company's interest, and carried on these mills on their own ac- 
count ; but their business was soon impeded by fire. The stone 
mill was burned in 1851, and the old flannel mill in the year 
following. In 1853, under the old charter granted to W. B. 
Park in 1834, the Belvidere Woollen Manufacturing Company 
was reorganized, — Messrs. Stott and Farnsworth conveying one- 
third of their interest to the new company. The large brick 
mill, at Wamesit Falls, was built the same year. Another 
large mill at Whipple's Mills was built in 1862. The capital 
of this company — originally only $50,000 — is now $200,000. 
Charles Stott has been Agent since 1835. 

It was in 1836 that Perez 0. Piichmond, who had for two 
years previously been engaged in manufacturing batting, near 
Wamesit Falls, established himself at Massic Falls, where he 
experienced distinguished success in that business. W^hen he 
began manufacturing operations in Lowell in 1834, he borrowed 
six hundred dollars from a friend, with which he bought and 
started a few carding machines. When he died in 1854, he 
left an estate worth over one hundi;ed and twenty-five thousand 
dollars, above all his liabilities. 

The Massachusetts Cotton Mills — the youngest of the great 
corporations now existing in Lowell- — were incorporated in 
1839, with a capital of $1,200,000, which was afterward in- 
creased by the absorption of the Prescott Company to $1,800,- 
000. The Agents of this Company have been, from 1839 to 
1849, Homer Bartlett; from 1849 to 1856, Joseph White; 
and since 1856, Frank F. Battles. The Superintendents of 
the Prescott Mills, (a part of the same Company's establish^ 
ment,) have been, from 1845 to 1849, Homer Bartlett; from 
1849 to 1856, Frank F. Battles; and since 1856, William 
Brown. 



58 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The Massachusetts have six mills, with 67,872 spindles and 
1,887 looms, employing 1,300 females and 400 males. They 
consume ISO.OOO pounds of cotton, and make 540,000 yards 
of cloth, per week ; their fabrics being Sheetings, Shirtings 
and Drillings, No. 12 to No. 22. 

In 1839, John Nesmith and others were incorporated as the 
"Whitney Mills, and for several years they marj|ffactured blank- 
ets in the stone mill near Wamesit Falls. But the business 
proved a failure, and they sold their machinery to Joseph W. 
Mansur and John D. Sturtevant. The blanket manufacture 
finally found a grave in the Tariff of 1846. That Tariff, the 
result of the financial charlatanry of Robert J. Walker, Presi- 
dent Polk's Secretary of the Treasury, raised the duty on all 
imported wools to thirty per cent., while it reduced the duty 
on imported flannels and blankets to twenty-five and twenty per 
cent. 

It was in 1839 that Charles P. Talbot & Co. commenced the 
business of manufacturing dye-stuffs and chemicals in Lowell 
and Billerica. This business, small in its beginning, has 
gradually swelled to the amount of S 500,000 per annum. A 
flannel mill has also been started by the Messrs. Talbot, at 
Billerica, with eight sets of cards. 

In 1845, — the year of the second reorganization of the 
Proprietors of the Locks and Canals, — the Lowell Machine 
Shop was incorporated, with a capital of $600,000. W'iliiam 
A. Burke, who had previously been Agent of the Manchester 
(N. H.) Machine Shop, was the first Agent, and was suc- 
ceeded in 1862 by Mertoun C. Bryant. Mr. Bryant dying 
soon afterward, Andrew Moody succeeded him. 

The War, which brought death and ruin to so many others, 
was improved by this company to the utmost advantage ; and 
since the War, they have realized a hundred thousand dollars 
in a single year. 

The establishment of this company consists of four shops, a 
smithy and foundry, employing 800 men ; — 3,000 tons of cast 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 59 

iron, 400 tons of wrought iron and 35 tons of steel are con- 
sumed annually, in the manufacture of Cotton and Paper Ma- 
chinery, Locomotives, Water- Wheels, Machinists' Tools, and 
Mill-work. 

A machine for bending ship timber is now in process of con- 
struction here, the weight of which will exceed 200 tons. 

While the Machine Shop was getting under way as an inde- 
pendent corporation, the Prescott Manufacturing Company, in- 
corporated in 1844, with a capital of $800,000, was consoli- 
dated with the Massachusetts ; the change being made with a 
view to economy. 

Having now traced in ouiline the origin and progress of all 
the great corporations of Lowell, we may here insert a statis- 
tical summary of the most salient facts touching their produc- 
tive capacity. 

Capital stock of the corporations . ^ , $13,650,000 

Number of mills 47, and dye-houses, etc. 

Number of spindles 429,474 

Number of looms 12,117 

Female operatives 8,890 

Male operatives 4,672 

Yards of cotton cloth produced per week 2,248,000 

Pounds of cotton consumed per week 646,000 

Yards dyed and printed per annum 45,002,000 

Tons anthracite coal consumed per annum ^5,109 

Bushels charcoal consumed per annum 20,000 

Gallons oil consumed per annum 97,650 

Pounds starch consumed per annum 2,190,000 

Water-power , nearly 10,000 horse-powers. 

Steam-power 32 engines — 4,375 horse-powers. 

Wages of females, clear of board, per week $3 . 50 to ^3 . 75 

Wages of males, clear of board, per day $1.00 to 12.00 

Medium produce of a loom, No. 14 j-arn, yards per day 45 

Medium produce of a loom, No. 30 yarn, yards per day 30 

Average per spindle per day 1^ 

In 1829, one mill was burned down, and, in 1853, another. 
Both these mills belonged to the Merrimack Company ; and 
although fires have been frequent, no other mills of the great 
corporations have been lost by that devouring element. This 



60 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

coraparative exemption from tlie ravages of fire has been 
secured by the most efficient system of watching, which has 
been practiced here from the first. The corporations also have 
an elaborate system of ''sprinklers," which enables them, in 
an instant, to wet down the whole or any part of a room, or of 
all their rooms, so that fires are arrested at once. This admir- 
able machinery of sprinklers, however, was not introduced un- 
til after the establishment of the reservoir on Lynde's Hill, 
in 1850. A system of mutual insurance against fire was also 
adopted by the corporations about the same time ; but so per- 
fect are their facilities for preventing and suppressing fires, the 
cost of their insurance has been less than a tenth of one per 
cent, on the value of the property insured. 

In connection with those corporations that stopped their mills 
more or less during the War, the question may be asked, — 
How would the great men who founded the factory system of 
Lowell regard this ruthless dismissal of hundreds and thou- 
sands of operatives, dependent on their day's wages for their 
day's bread ? The founders of Lowell were far in advance of 
their times. How mindful they were of the well-being of their 
operatives ! With what thoughtful care did they establish, at 
their own cost, their admirable system of boarding-houses, 
with the most efficient moral police, and with every provisi(wa 
for religious worship ! To them the condition of their opera- 
tives was a matter of the highest interest. =•' Not so to their 
successors. The impartial historian cannot ignore the fact, 
painful as it is, that nine of the great corporations of Lowell, 
under a mistaken belief that they could not run their mills to 
a profit during the War, unanimously, in cold blood, dismissed 
ten thousand operatives, penniless, into the streets ! 

This crime, this worse than crime, this blunder, entailed its 
own punishment, — as all crimes do by the immutable law of 
God. When these companies resumed operations, their former 
skilled operatives were dispersed, and could no more be recalled 

* Appleton's Origin of Lowell, p. 15. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 61 

thiiu the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Their places were poorly 
tilled by the less skilled operatives whom the companies now 
had to employ. So serious was this blunder, that the smallest 
of the companies would have done wisely, had they sacrificed 
a hundred thousand dollars, rather than thus lose their accus- 
tomed help. 

During the last forty years, a great variety of mechanical tal- 
ent has been developed by the corporations of Lowell. But 
strange to say, no method has been devised to retain in the service 
of the companies the talent thus developed, by opening to its pos- 
sessors a wider field of action. Accordingly, when an overseer, 
or employe of any grade, has so mastered his business as to be 
fitted to fill the higher positions, — so often filled by men wholly 
ignorant of manufacturing processes, — his almost only hope of 
advancement lies in quitting the companies' employ. 

Among the men heretofore employed in the mills, who found 
no adequate sphere on the corporations, and who have risen to* 
higher theatres of action outside of the Lowell mills, the first 
names that occur are Phineas Adams, Sylvanus Adams, W.. 
L. Ainsworth, D. M. Ayer, Jefi"erson Bancroft, Joseph Battles,. 
E. B. Bigelow, Ezekiel Blake, Cornelius Blanchard, Francis 
A. Calvert, Josiah Gr. Coburn, John L. Cheney, Joshua Con- 
verse, D. D. Crombie, A. G. Cumnock, E. S. Davis, Orlando 
Davis, George Draper, Oliver Ellis, Franklin Forbes, William 
Hunter, Daniel Hussey, L. W. Jaquith, G. H. Jones, Peter 
Lawson, Pliny Lawton, George Lund, Foster Nowell, George 
K. Paul, Hannibal Powers, T. L. Eandlett, E. A. Straw, Pvoyal 
Southwick, Charles P. Talbot, Thomas Talbot, Rufus Whittien. 
Claudius Wilson, Hubbard Willson, Walter Wright, S. J. Weth- 
erell, Lothrop Wetherell, and John Yeaton ; and man}^ others 
might readily be recalled. 

Synchroniously with the building of the factories and board- 
ing-houses of the corporations, a large number of small private 
establishments were started in various parts of Lowell, by ma- 
chinists, blacksmiths, house-builders, carpenters, dyers, carriage 
6 



62 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

and harness makers, artificers of tools, and all sorts of workers in 
wood and in iron, — in short, by all classes of mechanics and 
artisans who could in any way contribute to the building and 
beautifying of an inland town. Many of these congregated 
near Wamesit Falls, in Belvidere. There too were subsequently 
started the manufacturing establishments of James 0. Patter- 
son, John D. Sturtevant, Aaron Cowley, lioger Lang, James 
Siner, Samuel G. Shapleigh, ]Moses A. Johnson, and others. 
Most of these establishments have long since disappeared from 
Belvidere — the manufacturers finding a more desirable theatre 
at AVhipple's Mills, and the miscellaneous classes of mechanics 
establishing themselves at Mechanics' Mills in the westerly 
part of Lowell. This region of Mechanics' Mills, — built up 
largely by William Livingston and Sidney Spaulding, — has 
been the focus of most of the lumber business done in Lowell 
since 1846. No water-power is used there; but planing mills, 
saw-mills, and other works are run by steam. 

It was long the policy of the corporations to discourage any 
manufacturing enterprize that was not incorporated. This 
policy was based partly on a love of methodicity and an un- 
reasoning attachment to incorporated forms of industry, and 
partly on the selfish desire to have the whole body of the peo- 
ple of Lowell subject to their sway. But notwithstanding this 
discouragement, many independent hives of manufacturing in- 
dustry have been started from time to time ; and some of them 
have realised remarkable success. 

In 1846, Oliver M. Whipple gathered, in the southerly part 
of Lowell, that group of industrial establishments ever since 
called Whipple's Mills, which are supplied by the water-power 
of Concord Eiver, estimated at five hundred horse-powers. In 
his long and active career, Mr. Whipple has rendered many 
valuable services to the public. Some of these have already 
been forgotten, and the memory of most of the rest will prob- 
ably perish with the generation now in being. But whatever 
else may be forgotten, this will not be forgotten, — that when 




oum:h m. AViriPPLK 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 63 

all tliG water-power of the Merrimack had been monopolized 
by great corporations, he laid hold on the water-power of the 
Concord, and held it, with a firm hand, for the use, chiefly, of 
independent manufacturers. For nearly twenty years, he con- 
tinued to let land, buildings and water-powxr, on the most lib- 
eral terms, to every man of merit that would embark in any 
manufacturing adventure. As the region of Whipple's Mills 
becomes more thickly peopled, the magnitude of the service 
thus rendered by Mr. Whipple will more and more appear ; 
and Lowell, when she calls the roll of her benefactors, can 
never omit his name. 

Among the first establishments at Whipple's Mills were 
Smith & Meadowcroft's bolt factory, Thoiiias Barr's print 
shop, Aaron Cowley's carpet factory, Sylvester Crosby's bob- 
bin shop, and C. H. Crowthcr's dye house. Afterward came 
Koger Lang, James Siner, and G-eorge Naylor, carpet manufac- 
turers ; Carroll & Thompson, dyers ; Charles E. Littler, calico 
printer ; the Lowell Wire Fence Company ; John Cowley, woollen 
manufacturer ; John Sugden, Richard Rhodes, and James Dug- 
dale, worsted spinners, and a multitude more. 

During the late War, portions of the water-power of the 
Concord, at Whipple's Mills, were purchased and applied by 
the Bclvidere Woollen Manufacturing Company, Luther W. 
Faulkner & Son, Charles A. Stott, and others. The residuum of 
this water-power passed, for a time, into the hands of Ephraim 
B. Patch, who sold it, in 1865, to the Wamesit Power Com- 
pany, which was incorporated the same year, with a capital of 
$loO,000. By this company, water-power is still leased to 
private manufacturers, as in former years by Mr. Whipple. 

During the two lustrums between 1845 and 1855, the num- 
ber of spindles run by the great corporations of Lowell, was 
exactly doubled. Only 200,000 spindles were in operation in. 
1845. The spaces between the mills were then built up, and 
other extensions made, and, in 1855, the number of spindles 
running was 400,000, with 12,000 looms, 



64 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

In 1860, Moses A. Johnson and others established a mill at 
Wamesit Falls, for the manufacture of cattle's hair into vari- 
ous forms of felted goods. The use for which this fabric was 
originally designed, was the sheathing of the copper of ships : 
but it has since been applied extensively to a great variety of 
uses — such as underlaying carpets, roofing, packing, etc. In 

1866, this business was removed to Pawtuckct Falls. In 

1867, the Lowell Felting Mills were incorporated, with a cap- 
ital of $100,000, and with Moses A. Johnson as Agent. 

Outside of the great corporations, there is no establish- 
ment in Lowell, involving near so much capital, as the 
Laboratory of Dr. James C. Ayer & Co., established in 
1843, and now employing one hundred males and fifty fe- 
males. The advertising disbursements of this firm exceed 
$140,000 annually. Five and a half million copies of Aycr's 
Almanac, printed by steam at their establishment, are annu- 
ally distributed, gratis, in English, French, Dutch, German, 
Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese. About 32."),- 
000 pounds of drugs, of the value of $850,000,-220,000 
gallons of spirit, of the value of $550,000, and 460,000, 
pounds of sugar, costing about $98,000, — are annually ex- 
pended here. About $1,500,000 bottles, 185,000 pill boxe?, 
425,000 square feet of packing boxes, and 112,000 square feet 
of card board, are also used. The paper and printing ink 
consumed annually amount in value to $75,000, The pro- 
ducts of this mammoth laboratory are sent to every part of 
the globe, at an expense of $48,000 a year for freight, and 
$2,800 for postage, — 150 letters on an average being sent out 
every day. 

The principal manufacturing and mechanical establishments 
in Lowell, not already mentioned, are as follows ; 

American Bolt Company, Bolts. 

Thomas Atherton & Co., Machinists. 

Sager Ashworth, Files. 

Milton Aldrich, Hand Screws. 

A. H. & J. H. Abbott, Carriages, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 65 

J. W. Bennett & Co., Metallic Eoofiug, 
Artemas L. Brooks, Saw Mill and Planing Mill. 
D. C. Brown, Reeds, Loom Harnesses, etc. 
S. L. Buckman, Harnesses. 
James A. Brabrook, Harnesses. 
T. F. Burgess & Co., Iron Machinery. 
H. R. Barker, Gas and Steam Pipes, etc. 
Ephraim Brown, Money Drawers, etc. 
Blodgett, Reed & Pease, Stone Cutters, etc. 
S. R. Brackett, Worsted Yarns. 
George L. Cad3% Belt Hooks, etc. 
George Crosby, Extension Tables, etc. 
Coburn, Wing & Co., Shuttles. 
John H. Coburn, Shuttles. 
Coburn & Park, Stone Quarries. 
Cutter & Walker, Shoulder Braces. 
Samuel Convers, Carriages. 
Cole & Nichols, Foundry. 
Elbridge G. Cook, Tannery. 
Carter & Roland, Wool Washers. 
Charles H. Crowther, Dyeing. 
Alfred H. Chase, Fancy Cloths. 
Weare Clifford, Dyeing. 
Asahel Davis, Dovetailing Machines, etc. 
Luke C. Dodge, Rabbeting Metal, etc. 
Davis & Melindy, Planing Mill. 
Alfred Drake, Card Combs. 
James Dugdale, Woollen Yarns. 
Dobbins & Crawford, Steam Boilers. 
Eagle Braid Mills, Braid. 
Willis G. Eaton, Currier, 
N. B. Favor & Son, Doors, Sashes and Blinds. 
William Fiske, Coverlets. 
L. W. Faulkner & Son, W^oollens. 
George W. Field, Machinist. 
Fuller & Read, Wood Turners. 
Josiah Gates & Sons, Hose, Belts, etc. 
Joseph Green, Mats and Rugs. 
Hart & Colson, Furniture. 
Hill Manufacturing Company, Suspenders. 
Howe & Goodhue, Card Clothing. 
John Holt, Press-dyed Flannels. 
6* 



66 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Andrew J. Hiscox & Co., Files. 

Howes & Burnham, Lumber. 

George W. Harris, Loom Harnesses, etc. 

Henry A. Hildreth, Wire Worker. 

B. S. Hale & Son, Insulated Wire. 

H. B. & G. F. Hill, Carriages. 

Eliplialet Hills, Wood Turner. 

Hubbard & Blake, Patent Leather. 

J. S. Jaques & Co., Shuttles. 

Joel Jenkins, Carriages. 

Keyes and Sugden, Worsted Yarns, 

Eichard Kitson, Cotton Machinery. 

D. S. Kimball, Furniture. 

J. A. Knowlcs, Jr., Scales. 

Wm. Kelley, Doors, Sashes and Blinds. 

Benjamin Lawrence, Machinist. 

Lowell Arras Company, Fire Arms.. 

Lowell Card Company. Card Clothing. 

Daniel Lovejoy, Machine Knives. 

David Lane, Woollen Machinery. 

Livingston, Carter & Co., Flannels, etc. 

William E. Livingston, Grist Mill, etc. 

John McDonald, Carpets. 

John Mather, Carpets. 

William & Luke McFarlin, Ice. 

J. V. Meigs, Patent Guns. 

Norcross & Saunders, Lumber. 

George Naylor, Carpets. 

Parsons & Gibby, Copperstamps, etc. 

F. S. Perkins, Iron Machinery. 

Parker & Cheney, Bobbins. 

M. C. Pratt, Doors, Sashes and Blinds. 

Isaac Place, Doors, Sashes and Blinds. 

J. G. Peabody, Doors, Sashes and Blinds. 

John Pettengill, Cisterns, etc. 

J. M. Peabody, Set Screws. 

John N. Pierce, Machinist. 

George Eiplcy & Co., Batting. 

Eobinson & Nourbourn, Machinists. 

Eunals, Clough & Co., Granite Workers. . 

Charles B. Eichmond, Paper. 

Joseph Eobinson & Co., Acids and Charcoal. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 67 

Amos Sanborn & Co., Silver Ware. 
Samuel Smith, Set Screws. 
Charles A. Stott, Flannels. 

A. C. Sawyer, Harnesses, etc. 
Hamilton Sawyer, Machinist. 

Solon Stevens, Eeeds, Loom Harnesses, etc. 
Styles, Rogers & Co., Grist Mill. 

B. F. & J. Stevens, Machinists. 
Taylor Chemical Company, Chemicals. 
Upton & Blake, Shoulder Braces. 

IT. S. Banting Co., Bunting. D. W. C. Farrington, Agent. 

William Walker & Co.. Woollens. 

Woods, Sherwood & Co., Wire workers. 

H. & A. Whitney, Lumber. 

S. H. Wright, Machinist. 

Edward F. Watson, Bobbins. 

Phineas Whiting & Co., Belts. 

Charles H. Western, Patterns, etc. 

H. H. Wilder & Co., Brass Foundry. 

S. N. W^ood, Grist Mill. 

White & Plaisted, Saw Mill. 

White & Chase, Flocks. 

There are also various manufacturing establishments in the 
circumjacent towns, which can hardly be ignored in connection 
with the manufacturing history of Lowell. Among these are 
the following : 

BiLLERICA. 

C. p. Talbot & Co., Flannels, Dye Stuffs and Chemicals. 
J. R. Faulkner & Co., Flannels. 

Hill & Proctor, Machinery. 
Robert Prince & Co., Soap. 
Thomas Patten, Furniture. 

Chelmsford. 

Eagle Mills, Woollens. Isaac Farrington, Treasurer. 
Christopher Roby & Co., Swords, Edge Tools, etc. 
Baldwin Company, Worsted. Peter Anderson, Agent. 
Silver & Gay, Woollen Machinery, Tools, etc. 
Chelmsford Foundry. W. H. B. Wightman, Treasurer. 
George T. Sheldon, Hosiery. 



68 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Merrimack Hosiery Company. G. T. Sheldon, Treasurer. 
Warren C. Hamblet, Grist Mill. 

Dracut. 

Merrimack Mills, Woollens. Edward Barrows, Agent. 
George Eipley & Co., Paper. 

Tewksbury. 

Fosters & Co., Furniture. 
J. F. Huntington, Peat. 

Tyngsborough. 

Nathaniel Brinley, Lumber and Boxes. 

Westford. 

Abbot Worsted Co., Worsteds. J. AV. Abbot, Treasurer. 
Charles G. Sargent, Machinery. 

The water-power of the Merrimack has been increased by 
the superaddition of reservoirs near its sources, which cover a 
hundred and fifteen square miles. It now amounts to the 
enormous volume of four thousand cubic feet per second for all 
the hours during which the mills are run, or nearly ten thou- 
sand horse-powers ; and the whole of this has been applied. 
The Merrimack alone use the whole fall of thirty-three feet. 
To the other companies, the water is delivered from two levels. 
The Hamilton, Appleton, Lowell, Suffolk, Tremont and Ma- 
chine Shop draw from the upper level, under a fall of some- 
what more than thirteen feet ; while the Middlesex, Law- 
rence, Boott and Massachusetts draw from the lower level, un- 
der a fall of something more than seventeen feet. 

Within less than a mile below the settled portion of the city, 
are Hunt's Falls, where the Merrimack Eiver, reinforced by 
the Concord, makes another descent of ten feet. No part 
of this water-power has yet been applied to manufacturing 
purposes ; though the utilization of the whole of it is only a 
question of time. Here are the means to increase the produc- 
tive power of Lowell by more than thirty per cent. At pres- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 69 

ent, however, the cost of the dam, canal, etc., which would be 
required in applying this power, would probably exceed the 
value of the power that would be obtained. 

Besides Hunt's Falls, the superaddition of steam-power to 
the water-power, and the invention of contrivances to diminish 
the friction of the machinery and enable it to be run with 
less power, will lead to considerable further increase of our 
productivity as a manufacturing city. Moreover, the experi- 
ments of Boiielli foreshadow many probable future improve- 
ments in manufactures, from the application of electricity to 
various process, especially to the weaving. We are very far 
yet from the point of culmination. Before the present century 
expires, Lowell is destined to contain seventy-five thousand 
inhabitants. Nor will her progress end even there. AVhen 
the men of our times are all gathered to their fathers, she bids 
fair to renew her youth, and to march, with firm step, toward 
the goal of that ideal perfection, which is forever approached, 
but never attained. 



CHAPTER V. 

GENEKAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 1820 1835. 

East Chelmsford in 1S20— The Jou7'nril ~l.ocal Militia— Orators of Independence- 
D:iy_Jarac8 Dugdale— Central Bridge— Mechanics' Association— Lowell a 
Town— rostma.'ters— William Livingston— Odd Fellows— Ephraim K. Av- 
ery— Sarah Maria Cornell— Boston and Lowell Railroad— Jndge Livermore 
—Police Court— r/je Ad rertiser— Francis A. Calvert— Gen. Jackson— Henry 
Clay— Col. Crockett— (xeorge Thompson— Michael Chevalier— Steamboat on 
the Merrimack— Mechanics' Hall The Courier— l.oca\ Scenery. 

In 1820, the village of East Chelmsford, together with Bel- 
videre and Central ville, contained about two hundred and fifty 
inhabitants. Whipple's Powder Mills were then in operation, 
and Howe's Flannel Mill. Several saw-mills and grist-mills 
also contributed to the life of the place. Hurd's Mill, now 
at Whipple's Mills, then stood in the present Middlesex Com- 



70 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

pany's yard. Ira Frye's Tavern stood where the American 
House now stands, and furnished "provender for man and 
beast." At Massic Falls stood a blacksmith's shop ; and there 
were a few other such establishments as country villages usu- 
ally afford. Scattered about, were a few substantial dwelling- 
houses, — of which the Livermore House in Belvidere was the 
most conspicuous — and about a dozen farm-houses, cottages, 
etc. 

The operations of the Merrimack Company attracted a nu- 
merous and daily increasing population ; and the gables of a 
hundred new houses shortly pierced the sky. In 1822, a reg- 
ular line of stages was established between East Chelmsford 
and Boston. Previous to this, business men, like Mr. Whipple 
and Mr. Hurd, had often paid five dollars for the conveyance 
of a single letter from Boston. 

In 1824, a weekly paper called the Chelmsford Courier, was 
established in Middlesex Village, and became, at once, the 
organ of the rising community. It was published by William 
Baldwin, and edited by Bernard Whitman. In a short time, 
it passed into the hands of E. W. Eeinhart, who changed 
its name first to Chelmsford Phcenix, and afterward to 31 er- 
rimack Journal. He also removed it to what is now Lowell. 
In November, 1825, John S. C. Kuowlton purchased the paper 
of Mr. Eeinhart, and after the incorporation of the town, 
changed its name to the Lowell Journal. 

On July 4th, 1825, was organized the Mechanic Phalanx, 
the first Company of Militia in Lowell. Four other companies 
of Militia were afterward organized here : the City Guards, in 
1841 ; the Watson Light Guard, in 1851 ; the Lawrence Ca- 
dets, in 1855. The Phalanx and the Guards still live; but 
the two last companies passed away during the War, giving 
place to the Putnam 'Guards and the Sargeant Light Guards. 

In 1825, the anniversary of American Independence was 
celebrated here with appropriate ceremonies. The principal 
events of the day were an oration by the Rev. Bernard Whit- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 71 

man, of Chelmsford, the first editor of the paper now called 
the Lowell Journal, and a public dinner at the Stone House 
near Pawtucket Falls, then just erected by Captain Phineas 
Fletcher, and now the elegant private residence of Dr. James 
C. Ajer. The successors of Mr. Whitman in the line of 
Fourth-of-July oratory have been as follows: — In 1826, Sam- 
uel B. Walcott ; in 1828, Elisha Bartlett ; in 1829, Dr. Israel 
Hildreth ; in 1830, Edward Everett; in 1831, John P. Eobin- 
son ; in 1832, Kev. Thomas J. Greenwood; in 1834, Thomas 
Hopkinson ; in 1835, Kev. E. W. Freeman and others; in 
1836, Eev. Dr. Blanchard; in 1841, Eev. Thomas F. Norris 
and John C. Park; in 1847, Eev. John Moore; in 1848, Dr. 
Bartlett, again; in 1851, Eev. Joseph H. Towne; in 1852, 
Eev. Matthew Hale Smith; in 1853, Jonathan Kimball; in 
1855, Augustus Woodbury; in 1860, Dr. Charles A. Phelps; 
in 1861, George S. Boutwell and others ; in 1865, Alexander 
H. Bullock; in 1867, Judge Thomas Eussell, and others. 

Another event occurred about 1825, of more importance 
than a Fourth-of-July oration — viz., the arrival of James 
Dugdale, an ingenious mechanic from Lancashire, who be- 
came overseer of a spinning-room on the Merrimack, where he 
introduced the English "dead spindle," and revolutionized the 
mode of spinning coarse yarns. 

In 1825, the Central Bridge Corporation was incorporated. 
The only mode of crossing Merrimack Eiver at this point un- 
til now, had been by what was called " Bradley's Ferry." 
This ferry was purchased by the Central Bridge Company, for 
one thousand dollars. The bridge was so far completed during 
this and the following season that tolls for foot-passers and 
carriages were received early in December, 1826. The tolls 
for foot-passers were abolished in 1843. The bridge itself 
was rebuilt in 1844 ; and covered in 1849. The original cost 
of the bridge was twenty-one thousand dollars ; the cost of 
rebuilding was nine thousand ; and the cost of covering four 
thousand. In 1855, the bridge was laid out by the City Coun- 



72 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

cil as a public highway, — a foolish act, which involveil the city 
in most tedious and expensive litigation, •■= and for w^hich the 
proprietors of the bridge recovered over $26,000, as damages. 
costs, etc. The present bridge was built in 1862 at a cost of 
nearly $34,000, — an outlay of money scarcely less reckless than 
the seizure of the old bridge. 

In 1825, the Middlesex Mechanics' Association was incorpo- 
rated to minister, by a library of books, now nearly 10,000 
volumes, by public lectures, by occasional fairs, and various 
other means, to the intellectual needs of the people. This 
was only two years subsequent to the founding of the famous 
Mechanics' Institute in London — the first of a most useful 
class of popular institutions, originating in the genius of Dr. 
Birkbeck, and helped into existence by Lord Brougham. Thus 
Lowell followed the lead of London with a more rapid step 
than many of the great English towns. 

One hundred years had now elapsed since the Wamesit In- 
dian territory was annexed to the town of Chelmsford. The 
time had come for a separation ; and the inhabitants of East 
Chelmsford petitioned to be incorporated as a town, and that 
that town be called Merrimack. Mr. Boott suggested the name 
of Derby, probably on account of his family associations with 
that place, which was also in the immediate vicinity of one of 
the earliest English seats of the Cotton Manufacture. The in- 
fluence of Mr. Appleton finally caused the name of Lowell to be 
adopted, out of respect to his associate in the Waltham Com- 
pany, Francis Cabot Lowell.f 

At the inauguration of the Lowell Institute at Boston, 
December 31st, 1839, Edward Everett delivered a biographical 
discourse on John Lowell, its founder, and paid a well- 
merited tribute to that founder's father, from whom was named 
our City of Spindles. " Pyramids and mausoleums," says the 

<^- See 4 Gray's Reports, p. 474. 

t The ancient form of this name was Louie, afterward Lowle. It, perhaps, 
hiid the same origin as Lovell. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 73 

orator, '* may crumble to the earth, and brass and marble min- 
gle with the dust they cover ; but the pure and well-deserved 
renown, which is thus incorjDorated with the busy life of an 
intelligent people, will be remembered, till the long lapse of 
ages and the vicissitudes of fortune shall reduce all of America 
to oblivion and decay ! " 

The municipal independence of Lowell began on the first 
day of March, 1826. The population of the new-born town 
was about two thousand. 

The first post-master was Jonathan G. Morrill, who had 
been appointed postmaster at East Chelmsford in 1823. The 
post-ofiice was located at the corner of Central and AVilliam 
Streets. Captain William Wyman succeeded Mr. Morrill in 
1829, when the post-office was removed to the site of the 
present City Hall. As successive administrations came into 
power at Washington, different post-masters, of different party 
affiliations, were aj^pointed. Mr. Wyman was succeeded by 
Eliphaiet Case, who removed the office from the City Hall to 
Middle Street ; Mr. Case by Jacob Eobbins ; Mr. Eobbins by 
S. S. Seavy ; Mr. Seavy by Alfred Gilman ; Mr. Gilman by 
T. P. Goodhue ; Mr. Goodhue by F. A. Hildreth, who removed 
the office to its present location, and who was succeeded in 
1861 by John A. Goodwin, the present incumbent. 

The years 1827 and 1828 were marked by great depression 
in the commercial and manufacturing circles of the country. 
Lowell was enveloped in the common cloud. Mr. Hurd, the 
satinet manfacturer, became bankrupt ; but the two corpora- 
tions — the Merrimack and the Hamilton — kept on in the even 
tenor of their way, too strong to be crushed. 

In spite of all this, however, Lowell still advanced, aug- 
menting her population at the rate of one thousand souls, and 
her valuation-table many thousand dollars, every year. The 
business facilities of the place were much increased in 1828 
by the establishment of the Lowell Bank, with a capital of 
two hundred thousand dollars. 
7 



74 HISTORY OF LOWELL. * 

In 1828, William Kittredge brouglit one ton of coal to Lowell 
in a baggage wagon. It was the first coal ever seen here, and 
was considered a sufficient supply for the Lowell market for a 
year. When the first coal fire was started, in the law office of 
Samuel H. Mann, more than a hundred incredulous persons 
called to satisfy themselves whether the "black rocks" would 
actually burn. 

In 1829, the Lowell Institution for Savings was incorporated. 
In the same year, William Livingston established himself in 
the coal and wood trade. For a quarter of a century, Mr. 
Livingston was one of the most active, most enterprising and 
most public-spirited men in Lowell. Much of the western 
portion of the city was built up by his instrumentality. His 
efforts to save Lowell from the oppressive monopoly of her 
railroad business by a single company, mark him as a man far 
ahead of his time. If the men of bus'iiess here had sustained 
those efforts, as an enlightened sense of self-interest dictated, 
Lowell would now have two competing railroad routes to Bos- 
ton ; and, with cheap freight and a prompt transmission of 
merchandise, her progress would be vastly accelerated. In 
politics, Mr. Livingston was a Democrat of the old school, and 
his principles brought him into antagonism with all attempts 
to establish monopolies, and with all political and incorporated 
•'rings." He was always active in politics as in every other 
sphere of human activity. In 1836 and 1837, he was a mem- 
ber of the State Senate. He died in Florida, whither he had 
gone to escape the rigors of our northern* clime, of consump- 
tion, March 17th, 1855 ; and his place in the business and 
other circles of Lowell has not yet been filled. 

It is from 1829 that Odd Fellowship dates its existence in 
Lowell, Merrimack Lodge having been instituted during that 
year. This Lodge was the last of this order in the State, that 
succumbed to the opposition which all secret societies at one 
time encountered in Massachusetts. But in 1836 it ceased to 
exist. It was re-organized in 1839, and has continued ever 




VVILMAM LlVINCiSroX. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 75 

since. Four otlier Lodges were afterward formed, two of wliicli 
still live — Mechanics', instituted in 1842, and Oberlin, insti- 
tuted in 1843. Two Encampments were also instituted here, 
one of which — Monomake, established in 1843 — has survived 
to the present time. 

In Jul3% 1830, an acquaintance was formed between two 
persons in Lowell, whose names are destined to be associated 
forever, being cemented by the triple bond of adultery, abor- 
tion and murder. One of them was Ephraim K. Avery, Pas- 
tor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, now in Hurd 
street ; the other was Sarah Maria Cornell, a member of the 
same church, a fair but frail factory girl, employed on the 
Hamilton Corporation. The reverend hypocrite made frequent 
calls at the Hamilton counting-room for interviews with his 
paramour ; '■■' and then it was — 

" Tho golden hours on angel v/ings 
Flew o'er him and his dearie."' 

Little did either of them dream that the amorous dalliances 
in which they then indulged, would culminate, in a few fleet- 
ing months, in one of the most appalling tragedies in the 
annals of New England. Others besides Avery enjoyed the 
favors of Miss Cornell, who was finally expelled from his 
church for criminality and lying. In 1832, Avery removed to 
Bristol, Khode Island. Miss Cornell followed, and- took up 
her abode where she could communicate with him by personal 
interviews, as well as by letter. 

On the night of the twentieth of December, 1832, loud cries 
and groans were heard in Tiverton, a few miles from Bristol ; 
but the bloody tragedy then and there enacted, was not discov- 
ered until the following morning. The dead body of Miss 
Cornell was then found suspended by the neck in a stack yard 
fence, near the spot where such terrible cries had been heard 

* This statement is Inconsistent with the narrative of Avery, published with 
the report of his trial, by Richard Ilildreth and B. F. Hallett; but I had it from 
the late Ithamar W. Beard, who was employed in the Hamilton counting-room 
at the time, and v/ho, unlike Avery, had no motive to lie. 



76 " HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

on tlie evening before. There was indisputable evidence that 
prior to the murder Miss Cornell had undergone the manipu- 
lations of an abortionist. By a remarkable coincidence, the 
day following that on which Miss Cornell was thus put out of 
the way, had been assigned by the Presiding Eider for the 
trial of Mr. Avery, before an ecclesiastical court, on a charge 
of adultery committed with Miss Cornell, in the preceding 
August, at a camp meeting at Thompson, in Connecticut. 

Avery was soon afterward arrested at his hiding-place at 
Eindge, in New Hampshire, and carried to Newport, where, 
on the sixth of Ma}'', 1833, he was arraigned for trial. He 
was the first clergyman in the United States that was ever 
tried on an indictment for murder ; and his case was one of the 
most remarkable in the annals of crime. His trial continued 
for twenty-eight consecutive days. He was defended by the 
celebrated Jeremiah Mason and Eichard K. Eandolph, and was 
finally acquitted. A Committee of the New England Confer- 
ence reported, and the Conference unblushingly resolved, that 
Avery was not only innocent of the murder, but that he was 
also innocent of adultery w^ith Miss Cornell. But the time 
had gone by when the convictions of mankind could be con- 
trolled by the decree of an ecclesiastical conclave. Avery 
having had the impudence to preach to his old society in 
Lowell, shortly after the murder, a party of gentlemen, not 
altogether blind to all moral distinctions, prepared to bear 
him from the town on a rail. But before their preparations 
were completed, Avery fled. His pursuers gave expression to 
their resentment by hanging him in effigy. 

In 1830, the Town Hall was built, and the Fire Department 
established. Our population had then increased to six thou- 
sand four hundred and seventy-seven souls ; the principal 
streets of the present city had been laid out; and the once 
rural hamlet had begun to wear a decidedly urban aspect. 

It was in 1830, that Patrick T. Jackson undertook the Cy- 
clopean work of the Boston and Lowell Eailroad. The line 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 77 

for a macadamized road had already been surveyed, when this 
road was projected; and it was a part of the original plan to 
have the cars drawn by horses. But just " in the nick of 
time," the intelligence of Mr. Stephenson's brilliant success 
in his experiment with locomotive steam-engines on the Liver- 
pool and Manchester Railroad, reached the ever-open ears of 
Mr. Jackson, and convinced him that a similar road might be 
established here also. He corresponded with the best invent- 
ors and mechanics of England, availed himself of their valua- 
ble suggestions, and in five years the work was successfully 
completed. 

As a matter of course, all the incorrigible fogies of the 
country pronounced the project of a railroad with cars pro- 
pelled by steam, to be radical, wild and visionary. Many a 
Mrs. Grundy indulged liberally in ri'dicule at both Mr. Jackson 
and his ''castle-in-the-air " railroad. The stockholders com- 
plained of the repeated and enormous assessments which he 
imposed upon them, without any prospect, as those timid crea- 
tures thought, of any future dividends. Probably no other 
man then living in Massachusetts could have sustained himself 
against an opposition so powerful and so various. But the 
iron mind of that truly great man, — true to itself as the needle 
to the pole, — overcame every obstacle, and pressed right on- 
ward to the goal. 

How much the actual cost of this railroad exceeeded all pre- 
vious calculations, one fact will sufficiently indicate. In 1831, 
a Committee of Stockholders estimated the wdiole cost at four 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; but out of the exuberant 
liberality of their generous hearts, they advised that six hun- 
dred thousand dollars be raised for that work ; so that Mr. 
Jackson might have means "enough and to spare." But 
when, in 1835, the road had been completed, the actual cost 
was found to have been eighteen hundred thousand dollars ! or 
three times the cost of the Middlesex Canal, and three times 
the cost estimated in 1831 ! 
70 



78 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

This has often been represented as the first railroad started 
on this continent. But the Boston and Quincy Eailroad was 
the first that carried freight — using horse-power. It was built 
in 1827. The first passenger road was the Baltimore and 
Ohio, opened with horse-power for fifteen miles in 1830. Lo- 
comotives were first used in 1831 on the Mohawk and Hudson 
Eailroad, and in 1832 on the Baltimore and Ohio, and on the 
South Carolina Eailroad. The Boston and Providence, Boston 
and Worcester, Boston and Lowell Eailroads, were each open in 
1835. 

In cutting through the mica slate and gneiss rock near the 
Northern depot, to lay the track of this railroad, remarkable 
intrusions of trap rock were uncovered, severing and disturbing 
the general strata. Similar seams of trap rock were after- 
ward disclosed when the cut was made through the ledge on 
jFletcher street. Phenomena like these are always of interest 
to geologists. 

In 1831, the Eailroad Bank was established, with a capital 
oi six hundred thousand dollars. 

On the fifteenth of September, 1832, occurred the death of 
the distinguished Judge Livermore. Edward St. Loe Liver- 
more was the son of the Hon. Samuel Livermore, and was 
l)orn at Londonderry (N. H.) in 17G1. In 1783, he com- 
menced the practice of law at Concord, and was Solicitor for 
Rockingham County from 1791 to 1793. From 1797 to 1799, 
he was a Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. 
He was elected Eepresentative in Congress from the old Essex 
North District in 1807, and reelected in 1809. He removed 
to what is now Belvidere about 1816, purchasing the estate of 
Phillip Gedney, on which he resided till his death. The 
Livermore estate then passed into the hands of John Nesmith, 
another native of Londonderry, and of the same sinewy Scotch- 
Irish stock, which has given to the United States so many 
distinguished men — Presidents Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, and 
Johnson, Generals McClellan, Griint, Sherman, Butler and Mc- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 79 

Dowell, uot to mention James Gordon Bennett and Horace 
Greeley. 

Ln 183r3, the Police Court was established — being the first 
local court established here, since Major General Daniel Goo- 
kin played the part of judge, assisted by the Apostle Eliot 
and the Christian Indian Chiefs. The first Justice of the new 
court was Joseph Locke. 

The bounds of the city were extended in 1834, by the an- 
nexation of Belvidere ; * and the same year gave birth to the 
Lowell Advertiser. After running for some time under the 
editorship of B. E. Hale, the Advertiser passed into the hands 
of Eliphalet Case. In the list of Mr. Case's successors are 
found the names of N. P. Banks, H. H. Weld, J. G. Abbott, 
I. W. Beard, William Butterfield, Henry E. and Samuel C. 
Baldwin, Fisher A. Hildreth, Kobbius Diusmore, and J. J. Ma- 
guire. The Advertiser always supported the Democracy ; but 
the Democracy never supported the Advertiser ; and in 1864 
it collapsed. 

In 1833 the Lowell Irish Benevolent Society was estab- 
lished. Their charitable disbursements amount to fifteen 
hundred dollars per annum. In 1843, this society was incor- 
poratad by the Legislature. 

In 1833, Francis A. Calvert began in Lowell that career of 
mechanical invention, which has given to the world the bur- 
ring-machine, the comber, and the cotton- willow. The first 
worsted-spinning machinery in Lowell was built and started 
by him. As the final product of his genius, the world is yet 
promised a percussive steam-engine, though this chef d'ceuvre 
remains thus far imperfect. His ingenious brother, William 
W. Calvert, came to Lowell in 1825, and remained for twenty 
years. He died in 1847, at Panama. 

On the 26th of June, 1833, Andrew Jackson, President of 
the United States, made a visit to Lowell, accompanied by 

*■' The beautiful faubourg of Belvidere received its name originally as a 
term of reproach, on account of the lawless scenes then frequently witnessed 
there. 



80 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Martin Van Buren, then Vice President, Judge Woodbury, 
and other members of the Cabinet. A brief address of wel- 
come was made by Joshua Swan, Chairman of the Board of 
Selectmen ; to which the President made an appropriate re- 
sponse. He then proceeded through the principal streets, 
where triumphal arches had been erected and decorated artis- 
tically with flags and flowers. He was escorted by the Select- 
men, the Committee of Arrangements, (of which Kirk Boott 
was Chairman), a regiment of mJlitia, a cavalcade of two hun- 
dred citizens, six hundred school children, and over twenty-five 
hundred factory girls. Clothed in white, these Lowell factory 
girls looked like ''livered angels." They walked four deep, 
and their beauty and their elegance of dress were greatly 
admired. The procession passed in review before the Presi- 
dent, with drums beating, cannon booming, banners flying, 
handkerchiefs waving, and nine times nine hearty cheers of 
welcome. The old hero could hardly Ifave been more moved 
amid the din of battle at New Orleans, than by the exhilerat- 
ing spectacle here presented. He seemed to enter Lowell, as 
Scipio entered Rome after the defeat of Hannibal, or as Napo- 
leon entered Paris after the treaty of Gampo Formio. The 
procession over, the President visited the Merrimack Com- 
pany's mills, and saw some of the works put in operation by 
the girls in their gala attire. On his return to the hotel, he 
was visited by a young lady, who requested the privilege of 
kissing the father of her country. It was a startling request ; 
but Jackson submitted with becoming resignation. 

It is interesting to observe how a spectacle like this impressed 
the imagination of the distinguished French statesman, Cheva- 
lier, now Minister of Finance to Napoleon the Third : — 

''If these scenes were to find a painter, they would be admired at a dis- 
tance, not less than the triumphs and sacrificial pomps which the ancients have 
left us delineated in marble and brass; for tht;y are not mere grotesques after 
the manner of Rembrandt— they belong to history, they partake of the grand; 
they are the episodes of a wondrous epic which will bequeath a lasting memory 
to posterity, that of the coming of democracy." 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 81 

Four months after Jackson's departure, October 25th, 1833, 
Henry Clay visited Lowell, was shown through the mills and 
schools, and treated with all the attention due to so distin- 
guished a guest. Luther Lawrence was Chairman of the 
Committee of Arrangements, Kirk Boott having declined. 
Eemembering how Clay had advocated the declaration of war 
against England in 1812, — how he had made his country the 
cat's-paw of Napoleon, — and how, on Napoleon's downfall, he 
had patched up a hasty peace, without securing one of the 
objects for which war had been declared, — Mr. Boott utterly 
refused to assist in any honors to Mr. Clay. 

In the evening, Mr. Clay addressed the citizens in the Town 
Hall, which was illuminated with candles ; and though Kirk 
Boott was not there, the hall was filled to its utmost capacity. 
Never, probably, has an orator faced a more enthusiastic au- 
dience. Never was an audience moved by a more impassioned 
orator. 

Nineteen years rolled away ; the twenty-fifth of October 
came round again : but the sleep that knows no w^aking had 
fallen on Henry Clay ; and all that was mortal of his great 
compeer, Daniel Webster, lay in the chamber at Marsh field 
attired for the tomb ! 

In May, 1834, the famous comic statesman, Colonel David 
Crockett, visited Lowell, and was hospitably entertained at the 
Stone House, near Pawtucket Falls. He visited the factories; 
and at the Middlesex Mills, Samuel Lawrence presented him 
with a suit of broadcloth. He met the young men of Lowell, 
by their request, at supper, and made a shrewd, sensible speech, 
full of Crockettisms and fun.=--= 

A few months after Crockett, came George Thompson, Mem- 
ber of Parliament and Abolitionist, who, as many a village 
politician verily believed, was sent on his campaign in the Un- 
ited States by the British G-overnment, and had his pockets 
loaded with British gold, for the express purpose of breaking 

* Crockett's Life of Himself, p. 217. 



82 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

up our glorious Union. On October 5tli, 1834, he spoke in 
the Town Hall, where "gentlemen of property and standing" 
banded together and mobbed him as an emissary of the devil. 
A brick which was thrown at him through the window, and 
which failed to hit him, was long preserved as a sacred relic 
by the late H. L. C. Newton, one of Thompson's most ardent 
friends. 

It was in 1834 that M. Chevalier, the French political econo- 
mist, already mentioned, was sent to this country by M. Thiers, 
Minister of the Interior to Louis Phillippi, for the purpose of 
inspecting the public works of the United States. His impres- 
sions touching the characteristics of our social organization 
and the workings of our political institutions, were published 
in letters to the Journal des Dehats, and afterward as a sepa- 
rate work. These letters attracted great attention at the time. 
In a letter from Lowell, he says : 

" Uulike the cities of Europe, which were built by some demigod, son of 
Juxjiter, or by some hero of the seige of Troj', or by an inspiration of the genius 
of a Caeser or an Alexander, or by the assistance of some holy monk, attracting 
crowds by his miracles, or bj' the caprice of some great king, like Louis XIV. 
or Frederick, or by an edict of Peter the Great, it (Lowell) is neither a pious 
foundation, a refuge of the persecuted, nor a military post. It is a siJecMlation 
of the merchants of Boston. The same spirit of enterprise which the last year 
suggested to them to send a cargo of ice to Calcutta, that Lord William Bcn- 
tinck and the Nabobs of the India Company might drink their wine cool has 
led them to build a city, wholly at their expense, v/ith all the ediflcies required 
by an advanced civilization, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton cloths 
and printed calicoes. They have succeeded, as they usualiy do, in their spec- 
ulations."* 

Foreseeing that the Merrimack Valley and indeed all New 
England would become to Boston what Lancashire was to 
Liverpool, M. Chevalier continues : 

"The inhabitants possess in'the highest degree a genius for mechanics. 
They are patient, skillful, full of invention ;— tjiey must increase in manufac 
tures. It is in fact already done, and Lowell is a little Manchester." 

So pleased was M. Chevalier with the factories and factory 
girls of Lowell, that, more than thirty 3^ear5 later, in 1S66, 
when a member of the Commission charged with the organiza- 

* Letters from the United States, p. 131. 



HISTORY OP LOWELL. 83 

tion of the Exposition of 1867, he wrote to Senator Sumner, 
invoking his eiForts to have a group of these girls sent to Paris, 
with their looms, so that they might be seen in Paris, at work, 
as they are seen in Lowell. 

In 1835, Joel Stone of Lowell and J. P. Simpson of Boston 
built the steamboat " Herald," and placed her upon the Mer- 
rimack to ply twice a day between Lowell and Nashua. But 
owing to the shortness of the distance, the inconvenience of 
the landing-places, and the necessity for shiftings of the pas- 
sengers and baggage, this enterprise proved a failure, even 
before the railroad was opened between the two termini. It 
was, however, continued by Joseph Bradley until after the open- 
ing of the railroad, when the boat was taken to Newburyport, 
and sold for service elsewhere. 

In the same year that the "Herald" began her trips, the 
Nashua and Lowell Kailroad Company was incorporated, with 
a capital of $600,000. The Lowell Almshouse dates from the 
same year. 

The Hall of the Middlesex Mechanics' Association was also 
erected in 1835, chiefly by contributions from the various man- 
ufacturing companies of Lowell, In this hall hang full-length 
paintings of George Washington, Kirk Boott, Patrick T. Jack- 
son, Abbott Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, and John A. Lowell. 
There, too, are half-length portraits of Daniel Webster and 
Elisha Huntington, with busts of Abraham Lincoln and George 
Peabody. 

On the sixth of January, 1835, first appeared the Lowell 
Courier, the oldest daily newspaper now existing in Middlesex 
County. For ten years it was published tri-weekly only, but 
became a daily in 1845. Its publishers were Leonard Hunt- 
ress and Daniel H. Knowlton, and it was printed in the office 
of the Mercury — a weekly paper started in 1829, and after- 
ward consolidated with the Courier. In the February follow- 
ing, the Journal also was consolidated with the Courier. In 
the editorial roll of the Journal, and of the Courier, during 



84 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

the last forty years, we find the names of John S. C. Knowl- 
ton, John E. Adams, John L. Sheafe, Edward C. Purdy, John 
S. Sleeper, H. H. AVeld, John P. Robinson, Seth Ames, Charles 
H. Locke, Daniel H. Knowlton, Leonard Huntress, Thomas 
Hopkinson> Eiisha Bartlett, Elisha Huntington, Elisha Puller, 
Albert Locke, Robbins Dinsmore, William 0. Bartlett, Daniel 
S. Piichardson, William Schouler, William S. Piobinson, James 
Atkinson, Leander R. Streeter, John H. Warland, Charles Cow- 
ley, John A. Goodwin, Benjamin AV. Ball, Samuel N. Merrill, 
Homer A. Cooke, Ziua E. Stone and George A. Marden. 

In this list are many of the ablest men that have ever re- 
sided in Lowell. Under their management this paper was 
often quoted as authority by other journals in Xew England. 
But the gravitation of all things toward Boston, with the im- 
mense and inevitable superiority of the papers of that city, 
has arrested the growth of the Courier, and of many other 
papers within equal proximity to "■ the Hub." What with 
steam-railroads, horse-railroads, telegraphs and the habit of 
traveling, Lowell is now, practically, as near to Boston as 
Charlestown was in the first days of the Courier. It is time 
that counts now. Space is extinguished. 

By this time, the fame of Lowell as a theatre of the Cotton 
Manufacture had extended throughout Christendom. The 
solid Englishman, the impressible Frenchman, the phlegmatic 
Dutchman, thought the tour of the United States incomplete 
until he had visited Lowell. It was not enough to visit New 
York and New Orleans, traverse the prairies, climb the Alle- 
ghanies, and listen to the thunder of Niagara. He must come 
to the City of Spindles, and enter the great temples of the 
" Divinity of Labor," each more spacious than the Temple of 
Jeddo, the Mosque of St. Soj^hia, or the Cathedral of Milan ; 
and hear from the legions of priests and priestesses " the 
Gospel according to Poor Richard's Almanac." 

Through these visitors, Lowell first awoke to the singular 
beauty of her own natural scenery. The whole valley of the 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 85 

Merrimack is noted for its picturesqueness ; "but from tlie 
mountains to the main, there is no lovelier scene than that 
which meets the eye when from the summit of Christian Hill, 
we look down upon Lowell, and survey the varied landscape 
unrolled like a beautiful map before us. The spacious natural 
amphitheatre surrounded by hills, — the sky-blue rivers, — 
the long lines of mills, — the labyrinth of brick and masonry, 
— the obeliscal chimnies curtaining the heavens with smoke, — 
the spires of churches, belfries of factories, and gables o 
houses, — the radiant cross of St. Patrick's pointing away from 
earth, — the forests in the background, and the noble blue 
mountains of Monadnock, Wachusett and Watatic in the 
distance, — ^all combine to form a scene that must be pleasing 
to every eye that has been quickened to the beauties of art and 
nature. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CHURCH HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



St. Anne's— First Baptist— First Congregational— St. Paul';^— First Univer- 
salist— Unitarian— Appleton Street Congregational— Worthen Street Bap- 
tist—St. Patrick's— Freewill Baptist— Second Universalist— Third Baptist 
—John Street Congregational— Worthen Street Methodist— St. Peter's- 
Ministry-at-Large— Kirk Street Congregational— High Street Congrega- 
tional—St. Mary's— Third Universalist— Central Methodist- Lee Street 
Unitarian— Prescott Sti-eet Wesleyan— Methodist Protestant Church— St. 
John's. 

St. Anne's Church was the first edifice that was dedicated 
to religious worship in the present territory of Lowell, since 
the erection of that modest log chapel in which the Eev. John 
Eliot and his Indian assistant, Samuel, preached to the copper- 
colored Christians of Wamesit, two centuries ago. 
8 



86 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



The founders of the Merrimack Corporation made early 
provision for religious worship among their operatives. "In 
December, 1822," says Appleton, "Messrs. Jackson and Boott 
were appointed a committee to build a suitable church ; and 
in April, 1824, it was voted that it should be built of stone, 
not to exceed a cost of nine thousand dollars." The Epis- 
copal form of service was adopted, because Mr. Boott was 
an Episcopalian, and naturally desired to bring into "the 
Church " as many as possible of the people then flocking to 
East Chelmsford, some of whom had drank of one dilution of 
Christianity, some of another, and some of none at all. The 
church was organized, Ecbruary 24th, 1824, and was called 
originally "The Merrimack Religious Society." 




The first public religious services were conducted by the 
Eev. Theodore Edson, on Sunday, March 7th, 1824, in the 
Merrimack Company's School House, which was opened to 
pupils the same year. The church edifice and the parsonage 
adjoining were erected in 1825. It is a substantial edifice, 
built of dark stone, with Gothic doors and arched windows, 
and shaded by forest trees. The cost of the edifice, including 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 87 

sul)seqnent additions, was about $16,000. It was consecrated 
by Bishop Griswold, Marcb 16tb, 1825.='^= The Eev. Dr. Ed- 
son, the first and only, rector of this church, bids fair to cele- 
brate the Jubilee of St. Anne's, in 1874. 

In the tower of St. Anne's is a chime of eleven bells, 
mounted in 1857, w^eighing nearly ten thousand pounds and 
costing over $4,000. Their sonorous tones would be better 
appreciated had they been placed higher. 

"Amid these peaceful scenes their sound 

Has soothed the \\T;etched — cheered the poor; 
In them has Love a solace found, 
And Hope a friend sincere and sure." 

On the eighth of February, 1826, the First Baptist Church 
was organized. The church edifice — one of the largest in 
Lowell — was built the same year, the land being given to 
the society by Mr. Thomas Hurd, the satinet manufacturer 
mentioned in a former chapter. The edifice, which cost over 
110,000, was dedicated November 15th, 1826, when the Eev. 
John Cookson was installed as pastor. He was dismissed 
August 5th, 1827, and was succeeded, June 4th, 1828, by 
the Eev. Enoch W. Freeman, who remained until his myste- 
rious death, September 22nd, 1835. Eev. Joseph W. Eaton 
was ordained pastor of this church, February 24th, 1836, 
and dismissed February 1st, 1837. Eev. Joseph Ballard was 
installed December 25th, 1837, and dismissed September 1st, 

1845. Eev. Daniel C. Eddy was ordained, January 29th, 

1846, and dismissed after a longer pastorate than any of his 
predecessors, at the close of 1856. Dr. Eddy was Speaker 
of the Massachusetts House of Eepresentatives in 1855, and 
Chaplain of the Senate in 1856. Eev. William H. Alden was 
installed June 14th, 1857, and dismissed in April, 1864. 
Eev. William E. Stanton was ordained November 2nd, 1865. 

The First Congregational Church was organized June 6th, 
1826. The church edifice was built in 1827, on land given 

*See the St. Anne's Church case, 14 Gray, pp. 586-613; and Edson's Thir- 
tieth Anniversary Sermon. 



^^ HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



bj the Locks and Canals Company, and cost, with improve- 
ments, some $13,000. The first pastor, Eev. George C Beck 
with, was ordained July 18th, 1827, and dismissed March 
l-Sth, 1829. Eev. Amos Blanchard, -D. D., was ordained 
December 5th, 1829, and dismissed May 21st, 1845, when 
he became pastor of the Kirk Street church. Eev. Willard 
Child was installed pastor, October 1st, 1845, and dismissed 
January 31st, 1855. Eev. J. L. Jenkins was ordained Octo- 
ber 17th, 1855, and dismissed in April, 1862. .Eev. George N 
Webber was installed in October, 18G2, and dismissed April 
1st. 1867. Eev. Horace James, the present pastor, succeeded 
him. 




The Hurd Street Methodist Episcopal Church dates from 
1820. The edifice is the largest Protestant church in Lowell ; 
it was erected in 1839, at an expense of $18,50C. It being 
the custom of the denomination to make frequent changes in 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



89 



the location of their clergy, the pastors of this church have 
been numerous, and their terms of service brief. Eev. Ben- 
jamin Griffin was pastor in 1826 ; A. D. Merrill in 1827 ; 
B. F. Lambert in 1828 ; A. D. Sargeant in 1829 ; E. K. Avery 
in 1830 and 1831; George Pickering in 1832; A. D. Mer- 
rill, for the second time, in 1833 and 1834 ; Ira M. Bidwell 
in 1835; Orange Scott in 1836; E. M. Stickney in 1837 
and 1838 ; Orange Scott, again, in 1839 and 1840 ; Schuyler 
Hoes in 1841 and 1842; W. H. Hatch in 1843 and 1844; 
Abel Stevens in 1845 ; C. K. True in 1846 and 1847 ; A. A. 
Willetsin 1848; John H. Twombly in 1849 and 1850; G. 
F. Cox in 1851 and 1852 ; L. D. Barrows in 1853 and 1854; 
D. E. Chapin 1855; George M. Steele in 1856 and 1857; 
H. M. Loud in 1858 and 1859; William E. Clark in 1860 
and 1861 ; Daniel Dorchester in 1862 and 1863 ; Samuel F. 
Upham in 1864, 1865 and 1866. In 1865, Eev. Mr. Uphara 
was Chaplain of the Massachusetts House of Eepresentatives. 
He was succeeded by Eev. S. F. Jones, in 1867. 




In July. 1827, a society was organized under the name of 
the First Universalist Church. In the following year, they 
8- 



90 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

erected their church on Chapel street, "but removed it in 1837 
to Central street. The edifice cost $16,000. The first pastor 
settled over this church was the Eev. Eliphalet Case, who 
officiated here from 1828 to 1880, but afterward abandoned 
the ministry to become a reformer, a politician, a post-master, 
a journalist, and a rum-seller. The next four pastors were 
Calvin Gardner, from 1830 to 1833 ; Ihomas B. Thayer, from 
1833 to 1845 ; E. G. Brooks, in 1845 ; and Uriah Clark, 
from 1846 to 1850, when he began to develope "Free Love" 
proclivities. Eev. T. B. Thayer was again settled here in 
1851, and remained till October, 1857. He was much be- 
loved by his people, and the regrets which attended his depar- 
ture, were intensified by a painful accident shortly afterward, 
which involved the fracture and almost loss of a leg, with the 
additional affliction of a newspaper w^ar with some of his own 
surgeons. In 1859, Eev. J. J. Twiss succeeded Dr. Thayer. 

At the time of the organization of this society, the lords 
of the loom, under the monarchy of Kirk Boott, exercised 
arbitrary power, not only over the acts and votes, but also 
over the thoughts and even over the charities of those in their 
employ. To cherish the hope that the loving-kindness of the 
Father will attend the whole family of man through the life to 
come, was enough to put any man under a cloud. For contrib- 
uting toward the erection of this church, and for advocating 
the principles of Gen. Jackson, Mr. (now Eev.) T. J. Green- 
wood was dismissed from his place as an overseer on the Mer- 
rimack Corporation by the direct order of Mr. Boott. Such 
an act of bigotry would hardly occur now. We have made 
some progress during the forty years of Lowell. By the way, 
it was in Mr. Greenwood's room, that Nathaniel P. Banks 
began his career as a "bobbin-boy," ere yet he aspired to be- 
come a lawyer, legislator, governor, major-general, etc. 

The South Congregational (Unitarian) Church was organized 
November 7th, 1830. The edifice cost $32,000, and was ded- 
icated December 25th, 1832. Eev. William Barry was pastor 



HISTORY OF LOWELL, 



91 



of this churcli from 1830 to 1835 ; Henry A. Miles, D. D., 
from 1836 to 1853 ; Theodore Tibbetts, in 1855 and 1856 ; 
Trederick Hinckley, from 1856 to 1864. Eev. Charles Grin- 
nell was ordained pastor February 19th, 1867. 




The Appleton Street (Orthodox) Congregational Church dates 
from December 2nd, 1830. The edifice, which cost $9,000, 
was erected in 1831. The succession of pastors has been — 
William Twining from 1831 to 1835 ; U. C. Burnap, from 
1837 to 1852; George Darling, from 1852 to 1855 ; John P. 
Cleaveland, D. D., from 1855 to 1862, when he became Chap- 
lain of the Thirtieth Regiment, in the Department of the Gulf; 
J. E. Eankin, from 1863 to 1865. Eev. A. P. Foster was 
ordained October 3rd, 1866. 

The Worthen Street Baptist Church was organized in 1831. 
The edifice known as St. Mary's Church was built for this 
society. The present edifice was built in 1838, costing $8,000. 
The pastors have been — James Barnaby, from 1832 to 1835 ; 
Lemuel Porter, from 1835 to 1851 ; J. W. Smith, from 1851 
to 1853 ; D. D. Winn, from 1853 to 1855 ; T. D. W^orrall, of 



92 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

memory like Uriah Clark, from 1855 to 1857 ; ^. W. Bonham, 
from 1857 to 1860 ; George F. Warren, from 1860 to 1867. 

The digging of the canals and the building of the mills 
early attracted the sons of "the Emerald Isle" to Lowell. 
Different clergymen of their faith attended them here, secured 
for the time such places as were obtainable, and offered "the 
clean sacrifice for the quick and dead." In 1831, a church 
was erected called St. Patrick's, which was replaced in 1854 
by the splendid edifice which now bears that name, the cost of 
which was about $75,000. This building is 186 feet long by 
106 wide. The height of the body of the church is 61 feet 
from the floor. The architecture is of the Gothic style of the 
thirteenth century. Bishop Fitzpatrick of Boston, assisted by 
Bishop O'Riley of Hartford, consecrated this church, October 
29th, 1854. The pastors of St. Patrick's have been — Pievs. 
John Mahoney, Peter Connelly, James T. McDermott, Henry 
J. Tucker, and John O'Brien. Among the many assistants 
that have officiated here, was Eev. Timothy O'Brien, who died 
in 1855, and to whose memory an elegant monument was erected 
in St. Patrick's Church-yard. 

In 1833, a free church of the Christian denomination was 
organized under the ministry of Picv. Timothy Cole. Success- 
ful for some years, the experiment finally failed ; and Cole's 
church, after passing through the hands of the Methodists, 
became first a dance-hall, and afterward the armory of the 
Jackson Musketeers, an Irish military company, whose mus- 
kets were taken from them by Gov. Gardner. Having men- 
tioned the Jackson Musketeers, it is but fair to say that when 
the late war broke out in 1861, they forgot and forgave the 
Know Nothing fanaticism of 1855, and, rushing to arms among 
the first, illustrated on many a bloody field how bravely the 
sons of Ireland die for their adopted homes. 

The Freewill Baptist Church was organized in 1834. The 
proprietors were incorporated in 1836. The spacious edifice 
on Merrimack street, opposite Central street, was erected in 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



93 



1837, at a cost of $20,000, which was largely contributed by 
the factory girls. There preached the somewhat famous Elder 
Thurston, now no more ; an honest man, and popular as a 
preacher, but incapable of managing important matters of 
business, such as he was foolishly encouraged to undertake, 
in connection with this church. Through his incapacity, more 
than ten thousand dollars was lost, in the course of six years, 
and a tremendous panic ensued. He was denounced as a 
thief, and indicted and convicted of cheating ; but the Supreme 
Court set the verdict aside, and the prosecution of the elder 
was stopped. 

Then arose controversies about the church property, =••' which 
was under more than fifty attachments at once. These suits 
ended adversely to the society ; and on July 29th, 1846, the 
deacons were forcibly ejected from the church by Joseph 
Butterficld, a Deputy SheriiF, on an execution issued upon a 
judgment belonging to Benjamin F. Butler, Thomas Hopkin- 
son, and Tappan Wentworth, who personally assisted in oust- 
ing the deacons. 

That comedy might follow tragedy, the new proprietors, 
Benjamin F. Butler and Fisher A. Hildreth, converted the 
church into a museum and theatre. After being used thus 
for nine years, once struck by lightning, and three times 
burned, in 1856, this ill-starred edifice was fitted up for a 
dance-hall, a bov/ling alley, lawyers' offices, a newspaper office, 
an exchange, etc. 

Attempts have been made to use one part of it as a lecture- 
hall, but without success ; though the famous Lola Montez, 
the discarded mistress of the late king of Bavaria, delivered 
her lecture on Beautiful Women here. Nor have the attempts 
to use this edifice as a caucus-hall been any more successful. 
The last attempt of the kind was made in 1860. On that 
memorable occasion, Theodore H. Sweetser began a speech; 
but just as he was capping his first climax, a gentleman who 

*8 Metcalf, 301; 2 Cushiug, 597; 1 Ciishing, 302. 



94 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



disapproved of his remarks, suddenly turned off the gas, and 
** brought down the house " in the wildest merriment and con- 
fusion. 

The strategical manoeuverings by which this edifice was 
transferred from the ecclesiastical proprietors to their lay 
successors, were none too creditable to the consciences of the 
manipulators. But perhaps they did not fully realize the 
scandalousness of their proceedings, and failed to hear the 
still, small voice of conscience in following the more clamor- 
ous calls of avarice and ambition. 

More than twenty years have now elapsed since the perver- 
sion of this edifice into a museum. Let us hope that before 
another twenty years have rolled by, this church — the mon- 
ument of the piety of the factory girls of Lowell — will be 
restored to its original purposes, and reconsecrated to the wor- 
ship of the overliving God. 




In 1853, another edifice was built on Paige street, costing 
$16,700, now occupied by this church. The pastors of this 
church have been — Eevs. Nathaniel Thurston, Jonathan Wood- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



95 



man, Silas Curtis, A. K. Moulton, J. B. Davis, Darwin Mott, 
(a wolf in sheep's clothing, who finally ran away with another 
man's wife,) George W. Bean, and J. B. Drew. 

The Second Universalist Church was gathered in 1836, and 
the house erected in 1837, at a cost of $20,000. The pastors 
of this church have been — Z. Thompson, from 1837 to 1839 ; 
Abel C. Thomas, from 1839 to 1842 ; A. A. Miner, D. D., 
from 1842 to 1848; L. J. Fletcher, who became involved in 
his domestic relations, and remained but a few months ; L. B. 
Mason, from 1848 to 1849 ; I. D. Williamson, from 1849 to 
1850; N. M. Gaylord, from 1850 to 1853. John S. Dennis, 
Charles Cravens and Charles H. Dutton were then settled here 
for a few months each. In 1859, Eev. L. J. Fletcher again 
became pastor, having, since his former settlement, run a varied 
career as preacher, play-writer, actor, gold-miner, school-master, 
lawyer, politician, judge of insolvency, etc. His second pasto- 
rate continued three years, and was eminently successful. Eev. 
F. E. Hicks succeeded Mr. Fletcher, but soon died, and was 
succeeded in 1866 by Eev. John G. Adams. 

On July 4th, 1836, the Lowell Sabbath School Union was 
organized, by the pastors of the several evangelical churches, 
and the superintendents and teachers of the various Sunday 
Schools connected therewith. 

The John Street (Orthodox) Congregational Church was 
organized May 9th, 1839. Their edifice was built the same 
year, at a cost of $20,000, and dedicated January 24th, 1840. 
Eev. Stedman W. Hanks, the first pastor, was ordained March 
20th, 1840, and dismissed February 3rd, 1853. He was suc- 
ceeded by Eev. Eden B. Foster, D. D., who resigned his charge 
in 1861, but resumed his ministrations here in 1866. During 
his absence, Eev. Joseph W. Backus, was pastor. 

In 1840, the Third Baptist Church was organized. In 1846, 
the edifice now occupied by the Central Methodist Church, was 
built for this society, costing about $14,000. After battling 
for life for nearly twenty years, under the pasterates of Eevs. 



yb HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

John G. Naylor, Ira Person, John Duncan. Sereno Howe, John 
Duer, and John Hubbard, this church was disbanded in 1861, 
The mention of the Eev. Sereno Howe renders it proper to 
say, that during his seven years' residence in Lowell, from 
1849 to 1856, his private life was irreproachable. That he 
afterward became addicted to licentious indulgencies, in Ab- 
ington, may, in charity, be attributed to constitutional infirm- 
ities, against which he may have struggled long and bravely, 
but in vain. 

" What's doue we partly may compute, 
But know not what's resisted." 




The Worthen Street Methodist Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized October 2nd, 1841, and the edifice erected in 1842, at a 
cost of $8,800. The succession of pastors has been — Eevs. 
A. D. Sargeant, A. D. Merrill, J. S. Sj^ringer, Isaac A. Savage, 
Charles Adams, I. J. P. Collyer, M. A. Howe, J. W. Dadmun, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



97 



William H. Hatcli, A. D. Sargeant, (again), L. K. Thayer, 
William H. Hatch, (again), and J. 0. Peck, one of the 
gayest Lotharios that ever flourished in the Lowell pulpit. 
Eev. George Whittaker succeeded Mr. Peck in 1867. 

St Peter's Eoman Catholic Church was gathered on Christ- 
mas Day, 1841, and the edifice built the same year, costing 
$22,000. Eev. James Conway, the first pastor of St. Peter's, 
was succeeded in March, 1847, by Eev. Peter Crudden. 




In 1843, the Lowell Missionary Society established a Min- 
istry- at-Large after the style of that established in Boston by 
the Eev. Dr. Tuckerman. Eev. Horatio Wood has officiated 
in this ministry since 1844. He has also labored assiduously 
and successfully in Free Evening Schools, Sunday Mission 
Schools, etc. 

The Kirk Street Congregational Church dates from 1845, 
and the edifice from 1846. The cost of the land, edifice, 
organ, etc., was $22,000. Eev. Amos Blanchard, D. D., has 
been pastor of this church ever since its organization. 
9 



98 



HISTOKY OF LOWELL. 




In the substantial elements of parochial strength, this 
church is one of the strongest in Lowell. Yet four lines 
suffice for its history — it having had no changes in its pas- 
torate, no heresy, no schism, no scamps, no scandal. "Happy 
are the people whose annals are barren." 

The High Street Congregational Church was organized in 
1846. Their edifice, which cost $12,500, was built by St. 
Luke's Church, an Episcopal society which was formed in 
1842, and which perished in 1844, under Eev. A. D. McCoy. 
The pastors have been — Eev. Timothy Atkinson, from 1846 to 
1847 ; Kev. Joseph H. Towne, from 1848 to 1853 ; and Eev. 
0. T. Lamphier, from 1855 to 1856. Eev. Owen Street, the 
present pastor, was installed September 17th, 1857. 

St. Mary's Eoman Catholic Church was originally built for 
the Baptists, but was ill located for any Protestant sect. After 
passing through various vicissitudes, in 1846, it was purchased 
by the late Eev. James T. McDermott, and consecrated March 
7th, 1847. Lather McDermott's independence of mind in- 
volved him in a controversy with his Diocesan, the late Bishop 
Litzpatrick ; and for years this church has been closed. This 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. d\> 

is much to be regretted ; for in Lowell, as in all the centres of 
population, the Eoraan Catholic Church has a great body of 
the poor and laboring classes in her communion ; and as Brown- 
son remarks, " the country is more indebted than it is aware 
of, to the Catholic priesthood, for their labors among this por- 
tion of our population." =••■= 

In 1843, the Third Universalist Church was organized, and 
the edifice now known as Barrister's Hall built for its use. 
But after a languid existence under Eevs. H. G. Smith, John 
Moore, H. G. Smith, (again), and L. J. Tletcher, it was dis- 
solved. The two last pastors of this church were not in full 
fellowship with their denomination, but preached indepen- 
dently as ecclesiastical guerrillas. 




The Central Methodist Church occupied this edifice, after 
the collapse of the Universalist society, until 1861, when 
they secured the building of the Third Baptist Church, then 
defunct. This Central Methodist society was gathered in 
1854, The pastors have been — Eevs. William S. Studley, 

* Father O'Brien estimates the number of Roman Catholics in Lowell to 
1)6 fifteen thousand. 



100 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Isaac S. Cushman, Isaac J. P. Colljer, Chester Field, Lorenzo 
K. Thayer and J. H. Mansfield. Rev. Andrew McKeown suc- 
ceeded Mr. Mansfield in 1865, and remained two years. He 
was succeeded in 1867 by Kev. William C. High. 




In 1850, a picturesque stone edifice, of Gothic style, with 
stained windows, was erected on Lee street, at a cost of $20,000. 
It was designed for a Unitarian society, organized in 1846, 
which occupied it until 1861, whose pastors were Eevs. M. A. 
H. Niles, William Barry, Augustus Woodbury, J. K. Karcher, 
John B. Willard, and William C. Tenney. 

Since 1864 it has been occupied by a society of Spiritualists. 

The wooden edifice on Prescott street containing Leonard 
Worcester's clothes-making establishment, has an ecclesias- 
tical history that must not be lost. It was the first church 
erected by the Episcopal Methodists in Lowell, and was built 
in 1827. It stood originally at the corner of Elm and Central 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 101 

streets. It is from this church or chapel that Chapel Hill 
derives its name. On the completion of the Hurd street 
church in 1839, this edifice was closed. But on the organ- 
zation of the Wesleyan Methodists as a separate denomination, 
this church passed into their hands. In 1843, it was removed 
to Prescott Street. Here successively preached Eevs. E. S. 
Potter, James Hardy, Merritt Bates, William H. Brewster,'-''* 
and Daniel Foster, who became Chaplain of the Massachusetts 
House of Eepresentatives in 1857, and subsequently Chaplain 
of the Thirty-Third Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, 
and who was killed in battle at Fort Harrison, September 
30th, 1864, while in command of a company of the Thirty- 
Seventh Colored Troops. 

If Captain Foster was the last, Mr. Hardy was the most 
popular in this succession of pastors. He began his ministry 
here in 1846, and flourished brilliantly for a time, selecting the 
best sermons of the ablest English divines, and palming them 
off as his own — his too credulous people admiring and won- 
dering at his ability and versatility. 

" And still he talked, and still the wonder grew, 
That one small head could cany all he knew." 

Mr. Hardy, however, proved anything but a good shepherd. 
He developed tendencies toward practical Mormonism and Free 
Love. He not only had one wife too many, but he was dis- 
covered in a liason with one of the ladies of his choir, and 
his pastorate was brought to an abrupt termination. He sub- 
sequently "took a degree" in a New York penitentiary for 
bigamy, and died ingloriously. 

On July 5th, 1855, the stone edifice on Merrimack street 
erected by the late William Wyman, was dedicated as a 
Methodist Protestant Church. There preached Eevs. Wil- 
liam Marks, Eichard H. Dorr, Eobert Crossley, and others, 

* Mr. Brewster had previously been pastor of a second Wesleyau society, 
Avhich long occupied the edifice on Lowell street, where Rev. Timothy Cole 
formerly preached. 
90 



102 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

both clerical and lay, not the least of whom was Captain Wy- 
man himself. But after a few years the enterprise aborted ; 
and the edifice passed into the hands of the Second Advent- 
ists, a society formed here as early as 1842. 

St. John's Episcopal church was erected in 1861, and con- 
secrated by Bishop Eastburn, July 16th, 1863. Rev. Charles 
W. Homer, who had previously been assistant minister at St. 
Anne's, was the first rector. On November 22nd, 1862, he 
resigned, and was succeeded in 1863, by Eev. Cornelius B. 
Smith, to whom in 1866 succeeded Eev. Charles L. Hutchins. 
In this edifice is a Memorial Window to the late Elisha Hun- 
tington. 

Besides the churches herein chronicled, others have been 
formed at various times, which acquired no permanent foot- 
hold, but experienced all varieties of fortune, and passed into 
the limbo of oblivion, leaving no discernable footprints on the 
ever-changing sands of time. 

The number of churches now "in commission" here is eigh- 
teen. The population of Lowell is about forty thousand. If, 
then, we assume each church to have, upon an average, six hun- 
dred attendants, we shall have, in the aggregate, ten thousand 
eight hundred church-goers ; and if to this we add twenty-two 
hundred who are reached through the Ministry-at-Large, the 
Mission Schools, etc., we shall still have twenty-seven thousand 
souls unprovided with stated religious instruction. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 103 

CHAPTER VII. 

SCHOOL HISTORY OP LOWELL. 

District Schools— High School — Edson — Washington — Bartlett — Adams — 
Franklin — Moody — Green — Mann — Colburn — Varnum— Intermediate — 
Evening— Carney Medals — Superintendence, etc. 

Before the manufacturing companies began their operations 
here, the eastern school district of Chelmsford contained two 
common district schools, one near the pound on the old Chelms- 
ford road, and the other near Pawtucket Falls. In 1824, the 
Merrimack Company, at their own expense, established a school 
for the children of their operatives, and placed it under the 
supervision of Rev. Theodore Edson, their minister. This 
school — the germ of the present Bartlett School — was kept in 
the lower story of the building then occupied by the Merri- 
mack Religious Society. Colburn's ** lirst Lessons," and his 
"Sequel" were introduced here, though much denounced and 
opposed by those who did not understand them. In the fol- 
lowing year, the opposition to Colburn's books abated, the 
school being then in charge of Joel Lewis, who had been a 
pupil of Colburn, and understood the use of his books. 

In 1826, the new-born town of Lowell was divided into 
six school districts ; and one thousand dollars was appropri- 
ated for the support of schools during that year. The school 
for the first district was that which the Merrimack Company 
had founded ; that for the second district stood near where 
the Hospital now stands ; that for the third, near the Pound ; 
that for the fourth, near Hale's Mills ; that for the fifth — the 
germ of the present Edson School — near the site of the Free 
Chapel ; that for the sixth, near the south corner of Central 
and Hurd streets. As population multiplied, other schools 
were opened, but the number of districts remained unchanged 
until 1832, when the district system terminated. 



104 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The first School Committee consisted of Theodore Edson, 
Warren Colburn, Samuel Batchelder, John 0. Green, and Eli- 
sha Huntington. Their report was read in the town meeting 
in March, 1827, and recorded in the town book. The appro- 
priate custom of reading school committees' reports in town 
meeting is now universal in Massachusetts. Concord, which 
claims the honor of leading in this custom, did not adopt it 
until 1830, four years after it had been introduced in Lowell. =•'•' 

In the management of these schools, the School Committee, 
for some years, encountered many difficulties, through the fierce 
antagonisms of interest and feeling which arose between the 
old settlers and the operatives in the mills. The old preju- 
dice against Colburn's books soon revived with unwonted fury, 
especially in the third district, which was the smallest and the 
most troublesome in the town. In the winter of 1826-7, a 
teacher — Verley Morse — was employed by the Prudential Com- 
mittee, who joined in the opposition to Colburn's books, and 
whom the School Committee refused to approve ; but the Pru- 
dential Committee, contrary to law, backed by the people, sus- 
tained him in his school. The excitement reached its crisis at 
the town meeting in March, 1828. The report of the School 
Committee had no sooner been read, than, by vote of the 
meeting, it was laid under the table ; and a motion was made 
that the Committee be laid under the table too. Neither 
Colburn, nor Edson, nor any of their associates were then re- 
elected ; but a new Committee was chosen, perfectly supple 
and subservient to popular caprice. 

The operation of the complex machinery of the District 
system was attended with constant friction ; and on the third 
of September, 1832, a town meeting was held to determine 

*Edson's Colburn School Address, p. 12. Mr. Boutwell's statement ou 
the sixty-first page of his last report as Secretary of the Board of Edu- 
cation, requires coi'rection. For the roll of School Committee-men, see 
the Appendix to the Regulations of the School Committee, 18(57. See also 
Merrill's school sketches in Lowell Courier^ December, 1859. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 105 

whether the town would authorize a loan of $20,000 to defray 
the expense of buying land and building two large school 
houses, with the view of consolidating all the public schools 
of the town in two large schools, and thus superseding the 
District system altogether. The whole body of corporation 
influence, with Kirk Boott to wield it at his imperial will, 
was brought to bear against the proposed reform ; and not a 
few of the old settlers also clung with fond tenacity to their 
" deestrict " schools. So formidable was this opposition, that, 
although the local clergy and all the most intelligent friends 
of education strongly favored the innovation, only one man 
was found with courage enough to advocate it in town meet- 
ing. Single handed and alone, Theodore Edson met Kirk Boott 
and his allies breast to breast ; not hesitating 

" To beard the lion in his den, 
The Douglass in his hall." 

During a protracted and tumultuous debate, Edson held his 
ground unflinchingly, and finally carried his point by twelve 
majority. Chafing under their defeat, the adherents of the old 
system called another town meeting on the nineteenth of the 
same month, when another debate ensued, more tumultuous 
and more decisive than the last. Two new champions — John 
P. Robinson and Luther Lawrence — entered the list with 
Boott ; but Edson stood alone as before, and when the vote 
was taken, carried his point by thirty-eight majority, — con- 
vincing his opponents that it would be folly to renew the fight. 

The part played by Dr. Edson in this contest was never for- 
given by Boott, who even withdrew from the church in which 
the Doctor ofl&ciated. For a time, none of the corporation 
nabobs would have anything to do with the schools thus 
erected contrary to their sovereign will and pleasure. It was 
only when Henry Clay came to Lowell that their High Mighti- 
nesses were graciously pleased to let the light of their coun- 
tenances shine for a moment on the benighted little Hottentots 
that filled the North and South Grammar Schools. 



106 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



To detail in full the history of all the schools would be 
tedious ; hut the principal schools must not be passed unno- 
ticed; for, as Edward Everett observes, "the dedication of 
a new first-class school house is at all times an event of far 
greater importance to the welfare of the community than many 
of the occurrences which at the time attract much more of the 
public attention, and fill a larger space in the pages of history." 

In December, 1831, the Lowell High School was opened un- 
under Thomas M. Clark, now Bishop of Rhode Island, as 
principal teacher. One of his classes contained four boys 
whose subsequent history may well excite pride in their 
teacher, if so unsanctified a feeling ever obtains access to 
the episcopal breast. These boys were Benjamin F. Butler, 
whose exploits have been recorded with fond exaggeration by 
Parton ; Gustavus V. Eox, the energetic Assistant Secretary 
of the Navy during the War ; E. A. Straw, the efficient Agent 
of the Amoskeag Mills at Manchester ; and George L. Balcom, 
of Claremont, one of the wealthiest and most successful men 
in New Hampshire. 

The present High School House was erected in 1840, and 
reconstructed in 1867. Mr. Clark was succeeded in Septem- 
ber, 1833, by Nicholas Hoppin ; in August, 1834, by William 
Hall; in May, 1835, by Eranklin Eorbes ; in August 1836, 
by Moody Currier ; in April, 1841, by Nchemiah Cleaveland ; 
in July, 1842, by Mr. Forbes (again ;) and in July, 1845, by 
Charles C. Chase, who has ever since ably and worthily sus- 
tained himself at the head of the Lowell corps of teachers. 

On February 18th, 1833, the South Grammar School-House 
was opened, and two schools were united and placed in it. One 
was the school of what had been the fifth district, which, since 
November 5th, 1827, had been taught by Joshua Merrill. The 
school thus formed was the same that afterward took the name 
of the Ed son School. Joshua Merrill had charge of it until 
October, 1845,"' when Perley Balch succeeded him. 

* In 18il and 1812, Mr. Merrill had for his assistant Theodore H. Sweetser , 
who has since acquired notoriety by his success at the Bar. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 107 

In 1856, this edifice was reconstructed, and the Washington 
School consolidated with the Edson. This Washington School 
was founded March 24th, 1834, kept for four years in the 
North School-House, and then removed to the South School- 
House. Its principals were Nathaniel D. Healey from 1834 
to 1835; Samuel S. Dutton and Isaac AVhittier in 1835; 
John Butterfieid from 1835 to 1840; Jonathan Kimball from 
1840 to 1851 ; Albert T. Young from 1851 to 1853 ; P. W. 
Kobertson from 1853 to 1856. 

In May, 1833, the North Grammar School-House was com- 
pleted, and the school, which, until then, had occupied the 
Merrimack Company's school-house, was moved into the upper 
part of it, and has continued to occupy it ever since. The 
principals of this school have been — Joel Lewis from 1825 to 
1826 ; Alfred Y. Bassett from 1826 to 1829 ; Walter Abbott 
from 1829 to 1830 ; Reuben Hills from 1830 to 1835 ; Jacob 
Graves from 1835 to 1841; G. 0. Fairbanks from 1841 to 

1842 ; 0. C. Wright from 1842 to 1843; Jacob Graves from 

1843 to 1847 ; and J. P. Pisk from 1847 to 1856, when the 
edifice was reconstructed and Samuel Bement became princi- 
pal. Originally known as the Merrimack School, on being 
removed in 1833 it took the name of the North Grammar 
School, which it retained till 1850, when the School Com- 
mittee named it the Hancock School. On the reconstruction 
of the building in 1856, this school received the name of the 
Bartlett School, in honor of Dr. Bartlett, the first Mayor of 
Lowell. At the same time, the Adams School, was consoli- 
dated with the Bartlett. The Adams was opened in 1836 in 
the lower part of the North Grammar School-House. Its first 
principal was Otis H. Morrill, to whom Samuel Bement suc- 
ceeded in 1851. 

The City Charter of 1836 provided that the School Com- 
mittee should consist of six persons specially chosen, in addition 
to the Mayor and Aldermen ; but in 1856 the Charter was 



108 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

amended, and the Aldermen detached from the School Com- 
mittee, the number of which was increased to twelve, besides 
the Mayor and the President of the Common Council. 

The Franklin Grammar School dates from the winter of 
1839, when Rufus Adams opened a school near where the 
Franklin now stands. George Spaulding taught here from 
1840 to 1844, when Nelson H. Morse succeeded him. The 
present edifice was erected in 1845, and remodeled in 1863. 
In 1848, Mr. Morse was succeeded first by Ephraim Brown, 
and afterward by Ephraim W. Young. In 1849, Amos B. 
Hey wood was placed in charge of this school. 

On January 8th, 1841, the Moody Grammar School was 
opened under Seth Pooler, who had been an assistant in the 
High School since 1838, and who continued principal of the 
Moody School until 1856, when Joseph Peabody succeeded 
him. 

A few months subsequent to the opening of the Moody 
School, the Green School was opened. Samuel G. Pratt was 
principal from 1841 to 1843 ; Aaron Walker, Junior, from 
1843 to 1845 ; Charles Morrill from 1845 to 1866, when he 
was chosen Superintendent of Schools. Charles A. Chase suc- 
ceeded him. 

On January 8th, 1844, the Mann Grammar School-House 
was opened. The school itself had existed as a public school 
ever since 1835, when the arrangement for comprehending the 
Irish schools in the public school system of Lowell was first 
effected by the School Committee and Rev. James Connolly,*'* 
the Roman Catholic priest. In 1839 another school was con- 
solidated with it which had previously been in charge of Daniel 

*See Reports of the School Committee, 18315 aud 1844; Mrs. Mauu's Life of 
Horace Manu, p. 202; New Englauder, April, 1848. This arrangement was 
that the teachers of the Irish children's schools should be Roman Catholics. 
They were, however, to he subject to examination, and their schools to visi- 
tation by the School Committee, in the same manner as other teachers and 
schools. In a few years, however, the jealousies which rendered this ar- 
rangement advisable, subsided, and difierences of creed ceased to be recog- 
nized in any form in connection with the public schools. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 109 

Mclllroj. The principals of the present Mann School have 
been— Patrick Collins, from 1835 to 1838; Daniel Mclllroy, 
from 1838, to 1841 ; James Egan, from 1841 to 1843; Michael 
Flynn, from 1843 to 1844 ; George W. Shattuck, from 1844 to 
1853. P. W. Eoberston and Albert T. Young were then each 
in charge for a few months; but before the close of 1853, 
Samuel A. Chase was appointed principal, and has remained 
here ever since. 

On December 13th, 1848, the Colburn School was opened, 
when Dr. Edson delivered an address, full of interesting 
reminiscences of the early school history of Lowell. Aaron 
Walker, Junior, was principal from 1848 until 1864, when 
Fidelia 0. Dodge succeeded him. 

On the annexation of the faubourg of Centralville in 1851, 
the A^arnum School was opened. A. W. Boardman was prin- 
cipal during the two first years, and was succeeded by D. P. 
Galloupe. Originally kept in the old Academy Building, in 
1857, it was removed into the spacious edifice which it now 
occupies. 

In 1851, the School Committee established Intermediate 
Schools to meet the wants of a numerous class of Irish pupils, 
too large to be placed to the Primaries, and too backward to be 
admitted to the Grammar Schools. But in ten years the neces- 
sity which called these schools into being, was no longer felt, 
and they were consolidated with the Grammar Schools. 

In 1857, two free Evening Schools which had previously 
been conducted by the Lowell Missionary Association, were, 
by vote of the School Committee, comprehended within the 
public school system of Lowell. In 1859, there were six 
public evening schools — three for boys and three for girls — 
under the supervision of the School Committee."- They had 
two sessions per week and imparted instruction to about five 
hundred pupils. If any schools should be public and free, 
surely the evening schools of the industrious uninstructed poor 

. * Report of School Committee, 1&59, pp. 28-31. 

10 



110 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

should be public and free. Yet these have been suffered to 
languish and die ; and the Missionary Society has resumed 
the work which properly belonged to the city. 

In 1858, Mr. James G. Carney presented one hundred dol- 
lars to the city, upon the condition that the interest thereof 
shall annually be appropriated to the procuring of six silver 
medals, to be distributed to the six best scholars in the High 
School, forever, — three in the girls' department and three in 
boys' department. The liberal donation was accepted, and the 
faith of the city pledged to the just discharge of the trust- 
Such was the origin of the Carney Medals, which will continue 
to be striven for by the pupils of the High School when the 
dust of unnumbered centuries shall cover the grave of their 
founder. 

In 1859, the experiment of a Superintendent of Public 
Schools was first tried in Lowell, George W. Shattuck being 
appointed to that office. But toward the close of the year a 
popular clamor was raised, and the office abolished. It was 
revived in 1864, when Abner J. Phipps was made Super- 
intendent. The credit of the revival of this useful and neces- 
sary office is largely due to the School Committee. Mr. Phipps 
was succeeded in 1866 by Charles Morrill. 

In 1863, John F. McEvoy, John H. McAlvin and others 
founded the Lowell High School Association. Annual levees 
are held by this society, whereat the lives, adventures, songs, 
services, speeches, hair-breadth escapes and deeds of valor by 
flood and field of the past pupils of the High School, are 
commemorated with becoming enthusiasm. 

The public educational system of Lowell now consists of 
one high school, eight grammar schools, and forty-seven pri- 
maries, which would probably not suffer by comparison with 
the schools of other cities in New England. 



* See Carney Medal Documents, appended to the Report of the School 
Committee of 1859. 



HISTORY OP LOWELL. Ill 

CHAPTER VIII. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 1835 1850. 

Marriage and Death of Enoch W. Freeman — Hannah Kinney— Her Trial for 
Murder— Elias Howe — James C. Ayer— Financial Revulsion — Lowell be- 
comes a City— Death of Kirk Boott — Market House — Courts in Lowell- 
Death of Luther Lawrence— Wendell Phillips— Lowell Hospital— The 
Commons — Museum — The Offerinr/ — Death of Sherifl' Varnum — Death of 
President Harrison — The Cemetery — Vox Populi — Chai-les Dickens — 
William Graves— President Tyler — Webster Incidents— City Library — 
Elisha FuUei- — Henry F. Durant — Medical Society — Dr. Miles' Book- 
Newspaper Libels — John G. Whittier — Merrimack River Fisheries— Judge 
Locke— Judge Crosby— President Polk— Death of Patrick T. Jackson- 
Northern Canal — Abraham Lincoln — Death of President Taylor— Battle 
of Suffolk Bridge— Father Mathew— Reservoir on Lynde's Hill. 

" The Minister's Wooing " had deeply exercised the ladies 
of the First Baptist Church, long before that subject employed 
the pen of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Church Committees, 
Ex Parte Councils and Mutual Councils were again and again 
appointed to consider the scandals growing out of the court- 
ship of Rev. Enoch W. Freeman and Hannah Hanson. =••■= Mr. 
Freeman was, of course, sustained ; but there was still an 
undercurrent of discontent in the church, on account of his 
connection with this remarkable woman. She was a native 
of Lisbon, in Maine, was the cousin of Mr. Freeman, and had 
had some tender correspondence with him in early life. In 
January, 1822, she was married to Ward Witham, at her 
father's house in Portland. Four children were the fruit of 
this marriage, which proved anything but a happy one. In 
February, 1832, the Supreme Judicial Court, sitting at Boston, 
granted her a decree of divorce from the bond of matrimony, 
on account of the criminality of Witham. A correspondence 
between Mr. Freeman and her soon afterward commenced, 
which culminated in their marriage, September 23rd, 1834. 
For six months they boarded with Mrs. Charlotte Butler, 

* Life of Mrs. Kinney, by Herself. 



112 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

whose son Benjamin — the future pro-consul of New Orleans — 
was at that time intended for the Baptist ministry. As Pope 
sighed 

" IIow sM'eet an Ovid was iu 3Iurray lost," 

so may others lament that a Boanerges of the pulpit was 
spoiled in Butler. In March, 1^85, Mr. and Mrs. Free- 
man made a visit to the father of Mr. Freeman, in Maine. 
During that visit, the elder Freeman suddenly died, exhibiting 
the same symptoms which were afterward observed in the case 
of his son. 

Mrs. Freeman continued to be the subject of scandal after 
her marriage, en account of her supposed intimacy with George 
T. Kinney of Boston, who had assisted her in obtaining her 
divorce, and to whom she was said to have been engaged. It 
was said that Kinney was a frequent visitor at Mr. Freeman's 
house, and that he was there on the morning of Sunday, Sep- 
tember 20th, 1835. On that day, after morning service, Mr. 
Freeman became suddenly ill, and experienced repeated vom- 
itings. He, however, returned to his pulpit, and commenced 
the afternoon services, but was unable to proceed, and returned 
to his house. He continued to grow worse, suffering intense 
pain internally, until five o'clock on the morning of the fol- 
lowing Tuesday, when death released him from his sufferings. 
He was thirty-seven years of age, and had been married ex- 
actly one year. He was a most uxorious husband, and on his 
death-bed requested that all his wife's children by Witham 
should adopt his surname. If he really died by poison admin- 
istered by his wife, his last words to her — " Never feel alone ; 
I shall always be with you" — must have come home with ter- 
rible emphasis to her depraved soul. 

Just as he closed his eyes in death, he was asked whether 
he had any advice to leave to his church. He replied, '' Tell 
them to be humble, faithful, zealous and united in love." A 
post mortem examination showed his stomach to have been 
highly inflamed, but the contents were not subjected to a 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 113 

chemical analysis — no suspicion being then entertained that 
the death was caused by poison. Mrs. Freeman appeared to 
be deeply affected by her bereavement. One week subse- 
quently, she was confined. She remained for some time in 
Lowell, keeping a milliner's shop on Merrimack street. She 
afterward removed to Boston, from whence she sent a weeping 
willow to be planted by the monument erected over Mr. Free- 
man's grave. On November 2Gth, 1836, she was married to 
George T. Kinney, a man five years younger than herself — a 
drunkard, a roue and a gambler. On August 10th, 1840, 
Kinney died in a manner similar to Mr. Freeman ; and a cor- 
oner's jury found that his death was caused by poison admin- 
istered by his wife. 

Long before the death of Kinney, suspicions hid been 
entertained in Lowell that there had been foul play with Mr. 
Freeman — that his wife had been guilty of the "deep damna- 
tion of his taking off." In consequence of these suspicions, 
one week subsequent to the death of Kinney, Mr. Freeman's 
remains were exhumed in the Middlesex street burying-ground 
and found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. Many 
a subject has been used to illustrate anatomical lectures, which 
was more decomposed than the body of Mr. Freeman. 

Immediately after Kinney's funeral, Mrs. Kinney made a 
visit to some of his friends in Thetford, Vermont. There she 
was arrested and taken back to Boston to stand her trial for 
murder. On her way thither she stopped at Lowell, arriving 
here on Sunday afternoon, August 30th. After a few mo- 
ments' delay, at the American House, she again left in the 
stage for Boston, in the custody of an officer. Just as the 
stage was leaving, the congregation to whom Mr. Freeman had 
ministered, and among whom she had once moved in all the 
dignity of a pastor's wife, poured along the streets at the close 
of their afternoon services. With what emotion they gazed on 
the weeping prisoner, and with what agony she met their gaze, 
it is easier to imagine than describe. 
10- 



114 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The trial of Mrs. Kinney for the murder of Kinney began 
December 21st, 1840, and closed on Christmas Day. The 
defence was conducted by Franklin Dexter and George T. 
Curtis. Although she was acquitted by the jury, there have 
always been persons among those who knew her, who have 
persisted in believing that she was guilty, — that she poisoned 
two husbands and one husband's father, — in short, that she 
was an American Lucretia Borgia. But while the deaths of 
the three supposed victims are most easily explained upon the 
hypothesis of poison, the total absence of motive on the part 
of the accused, envelopes each case in the gravest doubt. 

In 1835, Central Village contained about forty dwelling 
houses. Central Village Academy was incorporated and en- 
joyed a flourishing existence for some jcurs. 

It was in 1835 that Elias Howe, Junior — then a boy of 
sixteen — came to Lowell. He remained here two years, em- 
ployed in building cotton machinery. While here, he proba- 
bly became acquainted with the experiments which John A. 
Bradshaw was then making with the sewing machine. Nine 
years later, he invented the famous Lock-Stitch Sewing Ma- 
chine, for which he obtained a patent in 1846. Little, how- 
ever, did he appreciate the value of his invention ; for he 
• offered to sell his patent for the sum of five hundred dollars — 
a patent from which he afterward realized half a million dol- 
lars in a single year ! He died October 3rd, 1867, at Brooklyn. 

Among the crowds that took up their abode here synchro- 
niously with Mr. Howe, was a slender youth of seventeen 
summers, who now stands the foremost of those who have 
achieved wealth and fame in the manufacture of patent medi- 
cines. James C. Ayer was born in Groton, Connecticut, May 
5th, 1818, exactly six months earlier than his friend and 
fellow-citizen, Gen. Butler. His first experiences here were 
in the family of his uncle, James Cook, and in the High 
School. As the ardent boy walked occasionally through the 
Middlesex mills, (of which his uncle was then Agent,) and 




JAMES C. AYER. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 115 

saw the stockholders and directors in all their pride and pre- 
tention, he doubtless hoped that the time would come when he 
too would be a stockholder and a director. What was then a 
dream of fancy has long since been realized as a fact. 

After quitting the High School, and studying for a short 
time in the Westford Academ}^ young Ayer entered the apoth- 
ecary shop of Jacob Robbius, where he devoted much of his 
attention to chemistry. In 1843, he commenced the manu- 
facture of medicines for popular use. The result of his 
enterprise is the mammoth laboratory of which an account 
has already been given. =•= The first machine for making pills 
was invented by him. In recognition of his acquisitions in 
chemistry and kindred sciences, in 1860, the University of 
Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, conferred on him the degree 
of Doctor of Medicine. Similarity of tastes and opinions on 
various points brought him into contact with Horace Greeley ; 
and for some years past, Dr. Ayer has been the largest stock- 
holder in the Neiv York Tribiine. 

The people of Lowell participated with their fellow citizens 
all over Xew England in the mania which arose prior to 1835, 
first, respecting the lands in Maine, and afterward spreading 
till it inflated the prices of land in all the principal cities and 
towns of New England. Visionary schemes were projected, 
castles in the air erected, and the wildest expectations cher- 
ished that large fortunes were to be made as quickly as by 
the seal of Solomon or the lamp of Aladdin. This splendid 
bubble, bursting in 1837, left all its dupes in the gulf of 
penury. When the commercial history of this country shall 
be written, it will be found to present a constant series of 
alternate periods of wild speculation, and periods of bank- 
ruptcy. When business has been good, credits have been 
extended too far ; and a general reaction has ensued. But 
the elastic spirit of the people and their recuperative energy 
have always saved the country from protracted periods of 
depression. 

* Ante p. 64. 



116 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

In 1835, discussion began as to the expediency of procuring 
a city charter ; and a strong party in favor of a charter was 
soon formed. On the seventeenth of February, 1836, a town 
meeting was held, Joseph W. Mansur presiding, when Luther 
Lawrence, Chairman of a Committee previously appointed to 
consider the subject of a city government, made a report. In 
view of "the number of our inhabitants, — their dissimilar 
habits, manners and pursuits, — the rapid and progressive in- 
crease of our population, — the variety of interest and the 
constant changes which are taking place," — the committee 
recommend that the Legislature be petitioned to grant a 
charter to make the town a city. " The principal defects in 
the operation" of the town government are stated by the 
Committee to be " the want of executive power, and the loose 
and irresponsible manner in which money for municipal pur- 
poses is granted and expended." '•'■' 

A Committee, of which Luther Lawrence was Chairman, 
was appointed to draft a Charter. They reported at an ad- 
journed meeting, on the twenty-seventh of the same month. On 
the eleventh of April, the Charter was formally adopted, in 
town meeting, by a vote of 961 yeas against 328 nays. 

The population of Lowell was then 17,633. Benjamin 
Ployd, the author of the ten first Lowell Directories, wildly 
predicted that in ten years from that time, Lowell would 
contain 64,000 inhabitants; and in twenty years, 256,000 ! 

In 1836, the Lowell Dispensary was incorporated. This 
association provides medicines and medical services free of 
charge to the poor. 

As illustrating the Puritanic spirit of young Lowell, Chev- 
alier records the fact, that in 1836 a man was fined by the 
municipal authorities for exercising the trade of common fid- 
dler ; he was treated as if he had outraged the public morals. 

On the eleventh of April, 1837, the hand that had so long 
and so ably guided the alFairs of Lowell was suddenly with- 

*Town Records, vol. 1, p. 304. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 117 

drawn : — Kirk Boott dropped dead from his chaise in the street. 
A chronic disease of the spine, contracted "on the tented 
field," was doubtless the cause of his sudden demise. As 
Agent of the Merrimack, and of the Locks and Canals, and 
as a citizen, participating in every local enterprise, he had 
been the great propelling power of Lowell ever since the 
building of the city began. Many a crisis has since arisen 
when the counsel and influence of another Boott would have 
been received with grateful enthusiasm. We have sighed, 
and sighed again, " 0, for the Coming Man ! " But the Com- 
ing Man has never come ; and of Kirk Boott we may truly 
say — " We ne'er shall look upon his like again." 

In May, 1837, all the banks in the United States sus- 
pended specie payments. Their paper depreciated on an 
average twelve per cent. The commerce and industry of the 
country, so long suspended upon the Dgedalian wings of paper 
money, were prostrated. But through the judicious manage- 
ment of the corporations, Lowell suffered little from the gen- 
eral paralysis. 

Li 1837, the city government committed its first great 
blunder — in building the Market House. It is the fixed 
habit of the people to have their meat brought by butchers 
to their doors. To expect to change their habits by merely 
building a market house, was grossly absurd. Of course the 
experiment failed. 

In the same year, the Legislature established an annual 
term of the Supreme Judicial Court, and a term of the Com- 
mon Pleas, at Lowell. A county jail, on the modern plan of 
separate cells, was erected in 1838, and in the same year, the 
Nashua and Lowell Eailroad was opened for travel and the 
transportation of freight. 

On the seventeeth of April» 1839, Luther Lawrence, the 
second in the succession of our Mayors, was suddenly killed, 
by falling a distance of seventeen feet, into a wheel-pit in one 
of the Middlesex mills, and fracturing his skull. He was the 



118 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



son of Samuel Lawrence, a major of the Revolution, and the 
oldest brother of Abbott, Amos, William and Samuel Law- 
rence, who were all intimately associated with the manufac- 
turing interests of Lowell. He was born at Groton, September 
28th, 1778, and graduated at Harvard in ISO 1. He studied 
law with Timothy Bigelow, whose sister he afterward married. 
He commenced practice in Groton, where he soon gathered 
round him a host of valuable clients. He repeatedly repre- 
sented his native town in the Legislature, and was Speaker of 
of the House of Representatives in 1821 and 1822. At the 
earnest solicitation of his brothers who had largely invested 
in the mills here, he removed to Lowell, in 1831, and engaged 
in practice, first with Elisha Glidden, and afterward with 
Thomas Hopkinson. In 1838, he was elected Mayor, and 
re-elected in 1839. In sixteen days after his second inaug- 
uration, the accident occurred which deprived Lowell of one of 
the ablest and worthiest of her adopted sons. This shocking 
catastrophe filled the community with mourning ; and prepa- 
rations were made for a grand public funeral ; but this, the 
family of Mr. Lawrence modestly declined. Appropriate reso- 
lutions were passed by the City Council, bearing testimony to 
his high-minded and honorable character, — his judicious ad- 
ministration of the city government, — his lively interest in the 
various public institutions with which he had been connected, 
— his unselfishness and liberality, — his efforts to promote the 
moral and religious interests of the place, — his amenity of 
behavior, and kindliness of feeling for all around him. His 
remains were interred in the cemetery of his native town. 

Among the students who graduated from the law-office of 
Lawrence & Hopkinson, we must mention one, richly gifted 
and highly accomplished, who, with that loftiness of soul that 
marks the hero or the martyr, early turned his back on all 
the common prizes of life, and devoted himself to the sup- 
pression of intemperance, the enfranchisement of woman, and 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 119 

the emancipation of the slave — Wendell Phillips. The fol- 
lowing interesting reminiscences of his sojourn in Lowell have 
been kindly furnished by Mr. Phillips himself : — 

** Somewhere about October, 1833, I went (from the Cambridge Law 
School) to Lowell to finish the study of law and see practice in the office of 
Luther Lawrence. His partner had been Elisha Glidden, a most estimable 
man and a good lawyer. But at that time his partner was Thomas Hopkin- 
sou, afterward Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and President of the 
Boston and Worcester Railroad. Mr. Hopkinson was one of the ablest men 
in the Commonwealth — thorough and exact in his knowledge of law, well 
read in general literature, and of the highest toned integrity. Mr. Lawrence 
was a gentlemanly, kind-hearted man, Avith the popular manners of his fam- 
ily, public spirited, and well fitted for county practice. 

" I was admitted to the Bar at Concord in the fiill of 1834,* and left Lowell 
immediately." 

Carlyle tells us, '* Genius is always lonely, — lonely as to its 
outward condition in its first years only, — lonely in its heart 
forever." But proofs are abundant, that Mr. Phillips, though 
unquestionably a man of high genius, entered con amore into 
society here, and engaged with zest in the amicable rivalry 
between the two leading social clubs of his time, one called 
" the Sociables," the other " the Agreeables." Two or three 
spirited articles were contributed to the Journal by him, 
touching the competition of these clubs for the palm of supe- 
riority in wit, culture and refinement. Of Lowell society in 
his time, Mr. Phillips presents us with the following graphic 
sketch : — 

"Lowell was then crowded with able men — well read lawyers and suc- 
cessful with a jury; among them, scholarly, eloquent, deeply read in his 
profession, and a ^'em'jfs, was John P. Robinson. The city was rich in all 
that makes good society — amiable, beautiful and accomplished women, — 
hospitable and amply able to contribute their full share to interesting and 
suggestive conversation, — gentlemen of talent, energetic, well-informed, and 
giving a hearty welcome to the best thought of the day. The changes that 
thirty years have made in that circle would aflbrd matter for a history deeply 
interesting and very largely sad." 

In addition to the lawyers mentioned by Mr. Phillips, among 
Mr. Lawrence's contemporaries at the Bar, were Seth Ames, 
Isaac 0. Barnes, Elisha and William Fuller, Samuel I . Haven , 

* Horatio G. F. Corliss was admitted and sworn as an attorney at the 
same term, — on September 9th, 1834. 



120 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

William T. Heydock, William and Francis Hilliard, Samuel 
H. Mann, Horatio C. Merriam. the Olcutts, Barzillai Streeter, 
Amos Spaulding and Nathaniel Wright, besides several who 
are still in practice here. 

In 1839,. the commodious edifice in which Kirk Boott and 
Luther Lawrence had successively resided, was purchased by 
the manufacturing companies, and devoted to the use of the 
sick in their employ. The Lowell Hospital Association was 
organized in 1840, for the purpose of managing it. The situ- 
ation of the Lowell Hospital, near Pawtucket Falls, is beauti- 
ful, retired and commanding. The buildings are surrounded 
by trees, shrubbery and climbing vines. As that good man, 
Thomas H. Perkins, — the early patron and life-long friend of 
Daniel Webster, — gave his private residence as an asylum for 
the blind, — how well would Mr. Boott, were he now among 
the living, approve of this appropriation of his house as a 
hospital for the sick operatives of the mills ! This Hospital 
was placed under the medical superintcudance of Dr. Gilman 
Kimball, who retained charge of it until 1805, when Dr. George 
H. Whitmore succeeded him. The best accommodations are 
here provided for the sick and homeless operative, — at an ex- 
pense but little exceeding the cost of board, to those who have 
means, — and gratuitously to those who have not. 

Prom the same year dates the Lowell Horticultural Society. 

Li 1840, two public commons were laid out; the South 
Common covering about twenty acres of land, and the North 
Common about ten acres. 

Several attempts had heretofore been made for the estab- 
lishment of a theatre or museum in Lowell, but had failed. 
In 1840, this project was renewed with better success. The 
Museum was first started in the fourth story of Wyraan's 
Exchange, by Moses Kimball, now of the Boston Museum. 
The first performance was on July 4th, 1840, and was an 
excellent substitute for the hlarny usually indulged in on that 
day. The first collection of curiosities was procured from 



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HISTORY OF LOWELL. 121 

Greenwood's old New England Museum in Boston. But the 
business did not pay. In 1845, Noah F. Gates purchased 
the Museum of Mr. Kimball; and the removal by him, in 
1846, of the Museum into the building formerly owned by the 
First Freewill Baptist Church, provoked "strong indignation 
in Zion." The church was at once fitted up for dramatic 
entertainments ; but so great was the opposition to it, that in 
1847 the City Council refused to license any more exhibitions 
of this kind. 

A petition, signed by twenty-two hundred legal voters, was 
hereupon presented to the City Council, praying for a renewal 
of the license. A prolix debate on the moral tendency of 
the drama ensued before the City Council. John P. Eobinson 
and Thomas Hopkinson appeared in behalf of the petitioners ; 
while Rev. Messrs. Thurston and True argued against^ the 
drama on "Bible grounds." The debate ended by the grant- 
ing of the license as desired. The Museum was incorporated 
in 1850, with a capital of sixty thousand dollars ; but it was ' 
shortly afterward destroyed by fire. Between 1845 and 1851 
it flourished ; but after 1851, it passed through various hands, 
and rapidly declined. In 1853, it was again burned. It was, 
however, subsequently reopened, and carried on till the thir- 
tieth day of January, 1856, when not a vestige escaped the 
third attack of the devouring flames. During the period of 
its prosperity, it found employ for some thirty persons, and 
its salaries averaged over three hundred dollars per week. 
Some of the best plays of the ablest dramatists were success- 
fully introduced. The stock companies were superior to those 
of most country theatres ; and some of the brightest " stars " 
in the Thespian firmament appeared upon its boards. 

In October, 1840, appeared the Lowell Offering, a monthly 
journal edited by Miss Harriet Farley, and Miss Hariot Cur- 
tiss, two factory girls. The pages of the Offering were filled 
11 




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122 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

exclusively by the contributions, in prose and verse, of women 
and girls employed in the mills. 

"As the weaver plied the shuttle, wove she too the mystic rhyme." 

Frederick the Great thought the Nibelungen Lied " not 
worth a charge of powder," and he could hardly regard the 
Offering as of higher merit than that immortal lay. Never- 
theless, the singularity of its origin attracted great attention 
to the Offering, and for a time it had a wide circulation. It 
won the praise of John G. Whittier and Charles Dickens, and 
" praise from the praised " is honor indeed. " In its volumes," 
says Whittier, "may be found sprightly delineations of home 
scenes and characters, highly-wrought imaginative pieces, tales 
of genuine pathos and humor, and pleasing fairy stories and 
fables." =•■■' 

On the eleventh of January, 1841, Benjamin F. Varnum, 
Sheriff of Middlesex County, died at his home in Central- 
ville. He was born in Dracut, in 1795, and was the son of 
Gen. Joseph B. Varnum. He was a Eepresentative in the 
State Legislature from 1824 to 1827, and a Senator from 1827 
to 1831. When the Court of Sessions was abolished, and the 
Board of County Commissioners established, in 1828, he was 
appointed one of the Commissioners, and continued a member 
of the Board until his appointment as sheriff in 1831, — suc- 
ceeding Gen. Nathaniel Austin. Like his father before him, 
he was continually employed in the public service, and his 
conduct comnianded the approbation and respect of his con- 
stituents. 

He was succeeded in the sheriffship by Gen. Samuel Chand- 
ler, of Lexington. Like Varnum, Sheriff Chandler continued 
in ofhue ten years, and was succeeded in 1851, by Fisher A. 
Hildreth. John S. Keyes was appointed sheriff in 1853, and 
continued in office till 1860, when Charles Kimball succeeded 
him. 

* VThittier's Miscellanies, p. 427. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 123 

On the seventh of April, 1841, all the bells in the city 
were draped in mourning, and tolled an hour, from twelve 
o'clock till one, in observance of the death of President Har- 
rison. On Friday, the fourteenth of May,— that day having 
been designated by the President as a National Fast-day,— 
all business was suspended, and the obsequies of the deceased 
President appropriately solemnized. Many buildings, both 
public and private, were draped in sable. A. long procession 
moved through the principal streets, composed of citizens, 
without distinction of party, in funereal garb. In the absence 
of Caleb Gushing, the appointed orator, Eev. Dr. Blanchard 
delivered an extemporaneous eulogy. A solemn torch-light 
procession in the evening closed the ceremonies of this Na- 
tional Fast-day. 

It was during this year that the Cemetery was established. 
For this "garden of graves," covering about forty-five acres, 
Lowell is largely indebted to Oliver M. Whipple, who has 
been President of the Association ever since its organization. 
The Cemetery is situated on the east bank of Concord Eiver, 
one mile from the centre of the city. The topographical sur- 
vey was made under the direction of George P. Worcester. 
The grounds are laid out after the French style, combining 
therewith somewhat of the English mode of landscape garden- 
ing. Long, serpentine avenues, shaded by forest trees, inter- 
sect this sacred enclosure. In the central part of the Cemetery, 
in a group of young trees, stands a small, Gothic chapel, in 
imitation of Pere la Chaise, and other celebrated burial places 
in Europe. The consecration of this cemetery took place on 
Sunday, June 20th, 1841. Eev. Dr. Blanchard delivered the 
address, which, for "its appropriate extent of subjects, rich- 
ness of thought, and felicity of expression," is said to have 
been rarely equaled on any similar occasion. 

Until 1841, there had been no substantial bridge over Con- 
cord Eiver, connecting Church and Andover streets. The first 
structure was a floating bridge for foot-passers. The next was 



124 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

a bridge set upon piles. But in the year above named, a 
double-arch stone bridge was constructed, which in 1858 was 
re-placed by the present single-arch structure. 

In 1841, Benjamin F. Butler, Henry F. Durant, James M. 
Stone, Granville Parker and others, embarked in a sensational 
enterprise combining journalism, politics and reform. As the 
organ of the new movement, Augustus A. Cheever established a 
weekly newspaper called Vox Popidi. It was not expected that 
the Vox would become a permanent journal : all that was con- 
templated was a temporary organ for those who felt like the 
Rev. Sidney Smith, that they must ivrite or hurst ! A vigorous 
battle was waged against all the abuses that flourished under 
the Whig dynasty in Massachusetts, and especially against the 
illiberality then often exhibited in the management of our 
corporations. The Vox created a great sensation ; and the 
aspiring attorneys at once acquired a notoriety which proved 
to some of them the stepping-stone to fame. 

Josiah G. Abbott, then in the Senate from Lowell, having, 
in common with other Democrats, a bitter feud with Eliphalet 
Case, who controlled the Advertiser, was anxious to have a 
journal with which to fight Mr. Case. Upon his suggestion, 
Samuel J. Varney purchased the Vox, fought out the campaign 
against Case, and then continued the paper as a permanent 
journal. The Vox has never wholly forgotten its origin, but 
even now occasionally evinces a disposition to renew tlie strug- 
gle in which it first won its spurs. Among tliose who, at diffe- 
rent times, have presided over the columns of the Vox, we may 
mention (besides Mr. Yarney) A. B. Farr, J. F. C. Hayes, B. 
F. Johnson, Enoch Emery, J. T. Chesley, Thomas Bradley and 
Z. E. Stone, the present editor. 

In January, 1842, Charles Dickens made "a flying visit" to 
Lowell from Boston. The chapter in his "American Notes," 
in which he presents the results of this trip, shows with what 
rapidity a man of genius can grasp all that is most character- 
istic in a community of which he has caught but a passing 



HISTORY OE LOWELL. 125 

glimpse. An agreeable surprise was experienced by Mrs. 
Dickens, who found in the wife of Dr. Kimball, a lady who 
had once been her schoolmate at Edinburg. Neither of these 
ladies had known what ticket in the lottery of life had been 
drawn by the other. 

On April 1st, 1843, died Dr. William Graves, one of the 
most prominent among the physicians and surgeons of the 
early days of Lowell. He commenced practice here in 1826. 
He had previously practiced at Deerfield in New Hampshire. 
He was a descendent of Oliver Cromwell, and was the father 
of Dr. John W. Graves, who for many years practiced his 
profession in Lowell, and who has long had charge of the 
United States Marine Hospital in Chelsea. 

On the nineteenth of June, 1843, John Tyler, President of 
the United States, made a public visit to Lowell, accompanied 
by Abbott Lawrence, Isaac Hill, John Tyler, Junior, and 
others. The boys and girls of the High School, with their 
teachers, — together with the military companies, and a caval- 
cade of the citizens, — formed his escort ; and the usual public 
greetings took place. Before leaving Lowell, the President 
and suite visited the works of the Middlesex, Lowell, Boott, 
and Merrimack companies, and expressed much gratification 
with the novel and marvellous scenes exhibited to them. 

At the October Term of the Court of Common Pleas, held in 
Lowell, in 1843, the famous case of the Commonwealth versus 
Wyman=" was tried. Daniel Webster, Eufus Choate and others 
appeared as counsel. An incident occurred in the course of 
the trial, which, perhaps, may deserve a place in this history, 
— being particularly illustrative of the tenacity with which 
Mr. Webster adhered to whatever position he might assume. 

While engaged in some by-play with Mr. Choate, Mr. Web- 
ster wrote upon a slip of paper the following couplet from 
Pope, and then handed the slip to Mr. Choate : — 

" Lo I where Meotis sleeps, and softly flows. 
The freezing Tanais through a waste of snows." 

*8Metcalf's Reports, pp. 247-297. 
11* 



126 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Mr. Choate at once took exception to the word "softly," 
which, he said, should read "hardly," and objected to this 
"rendering" of the poet. Mr. Webster stoutly affirmed that 
he had quoted the lines as Pope wrote them, and there- 
fore needed no lecture on the duty of the correct citation of 
authors. A copy of Pope was procured, which settled the 
question adversely to Mr. Webster. He took up the book, — 
read the lines deliberately, — sat down, — turned to the fly-leaf 
of the volume, — and there wrote 

" Spurious Edition of Pope.— DANIEL WEBSTEK." 

It was during this trial that Webster had his famous " pas- 
sage" with Judge Charles Allen. In his closing argument for 
the defendant, Mr. Webster advanced certain propositions as 
principles of law, which were highly favorable to his client, 
and evinced a desire that the jury should accept them upon 
his personal authority. But the judge, in charging, cautioned 
the jury, that, however eminent the counsel, and however hum- 
ble the Court, they must take the law, not from the counsel, 
but from the Court ; and he observed that, in this case, the 
counsel had advocated propositions of law which they them- 
selves knew to be erroneous. Mr. Webster dissented and at- 
tempted to explain. The judge said, rather sharply, " I don't 
wish to be interrupted." Mr. Webster promptly replied, 
"Neither do I wish to be misrepresented." 

The judge resumed. Mr. Webster also resuming, the judge 
said in a peremptory tone, " The Court cannot be interrupted, 
sir." Mr. Webster, in a tone equally peremptory, rejoined, 
"Neither can I be misrepresented, your Honor." 
The Court—" Sit down, Mr. Webster." 
Mr. Webster — "I won't sit down, your Honor." 
Thereupon the judge himself sat down, and Mr. Webster 
moved toward the door, but shortly returned, and gracefully- 
apologized for his interruptions.* 

*jLaw Reporter, January, 1844. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 127 

In 1844, was instituted tlie City Library, which now con- 
tains twelve thousand volumes. Its Board of Directors and 
its Librarian are chosen annually by the City Council. 

In 1844, Elisha Fuller, who had practiced law here during 
twelve years, removed to Worcester, where, in March, 1855, 
he died. He was born in 1795, and was the youngest of five 
brothers, all of whom were lawyers, — namely : Timothy Ful- 
ler of Grroton, father of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, and Eepresen- 
tative in Congress ; Abraham W. Fuller of Boston ; Henry H. 
Fuller also of Boston, who came to Lowell in 1834 to advocate 
before the people the annexation of Belvidere, and to denounce 
Kirk Boott, who had thrown the weight of J^is great influence 
against the annexation of that fine faubourg to Lowell ; and 
William W. Fuller, who practiced in this city about eight 
years, and then removed to Illinois, where he died in 1849. 
It was largely through the influence of Elisha Fuller that 
Edward Everett was elected Eepresentative in Congress in 
1826, in opposition to John Keyes of Concord. Mr. Fuller 
was then in practice in Concord, and would not submit to the 
domination of the old Concord clique, which so long controlled 
the politics of Middlesex County. 

A few months subsequent to Mr. Fuller's departure, another 
Lowell lawyer, Henry F. Durant, removed to Boston. Few 
lawyers have practiced here, more noted for moral hardihood 
than Mr. Durant. Any man would have been deemed a lunatic, 
who should then have predicted — what has actually come to pass 
— that, twenty years later, " that felt-footed young man," as 
Choate once styled him, would return to Lowell, not to elim- 
inate some scoundrel-client from the meshes of the law, but to 
stand in the pulpit of Dr. Blanchard, to exhort the assembled 
multitude to cease the mad pursuit of sin, and live for purer 
purposes, and lay hold on higher hopes ! 

In 1845, the Middlesex North District Medical Society was 
organized, being one of the auxiliaries of the Massachusetts 
Medical Society. The necessity of an institution to elevate 



128 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

the medical gentlemen of Lowell, in respect to personal char- 
acter and professional attainments, had long been felt, and is 
still felt, by all who have the true dignity of the profession 
at heart. This necessity, however, has never been supplied. 
The Medical Society has wholly failed to meet it. Partly, 
doubtless, on account of the ever-changing character of her 
population, Lowell has always been an attractive field for 
quacks. Not to mention political quacks, who are common 
everywhere, we have had quacks of one class, who have flour- 
ished at the bar ; we have had quacks of another class, not 
less numerous, who have flourished in the pulpit ; but the 
faculty most proline in quacks is the faculty of physic. Here 
the vender of every nostrum, the empiric, and the abortionist, 
have reaped a luxurious harvest. Not a year has passed dur- 
ing the last six lustrums, that has not witnessed the slaughter 
of more innocents in Lowell than Herod slew in Bethlehem. 

In 1845, Rev. Dr. Miles published his "Lowell as it Was 
and as it Is." The reader of that book must not censure its 
author too harshly, for the colour de rose which he has so 
freely used in his pictures of the corporations. At the time he 
wrote and for several lustrums afterward, " it was a favorite 
belief with the American people, that corporations were the 
most efficient agents of production, even where the work was 
not so great as to be beyond individual enterprise. The older 
wisdom of the country turns more and more to the smaller 
establishments, which secure full, interested, personal super- 
vision of labor. The English economy has always preferred 
this, except where the operations were beyond the reach of 
ordinary capital."" Moreover, some of the best thinkers that 
have lived in Lowell, including men of all parties, have enter- 
tained these riper views. Among these may be named Josiah 
G. Abbott, Benjamin F. Butler, Joshua W. Daniels, Henry F. 
Durant, Eliphalet Case, Fisher A. Hildreth, Thomas Hopkin- 

* Walker's Science of Wealth, p. 69. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 129 

son, Paul K. George, William Livingston, Joshua Mather, John 
Nesmith, John D. Prince, Oliver M. Whipple and John Wright. 
Dr. J. C. Ayer contributed largely to revolutionize the common 
opinion by his pungent pamphlet on the " Uses and Abuses 
in the Management of our Manufacturing Corporations," in 
which he exposed, with just severity, the cliqueism, nepotism, 
and imbecility of certain corporation "rings." 

In 1845, was found the first indictment against a Lowell 
journalist for libel. Samuel J. Varney, editor of Vox PopuU 
was charged with a libel on Jacob Currier, a Lieutenant in 
the Army ; but the case was never tried. In the year follow- 
ing, John C. Palmer, editor of Life in Lowell, was indicted 
for a libel on George D. Hodges, and tried, but found not 
guilty. A vitiated press is one of the worst of moral pests. 
For some years, the scurrility of all the local journals was 
disgraceful, not only to the editors, but to the people who 
tolerated and supported such organs. The Bar caught the 
infection, and about this time the grand jury seldom sat with- 
out plastering some of its members with criminal indictments 
— none but the most obscure being exempted. 

In 1845, G. W. Boynton issued a map of Lowell, prepared 
from a survey ordered by the city. 

In 1845, the Stony Brook Railroad Company was incorpo- 
rated, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars. On 
the first of July, 1848, this road, connecting Lowell with 
Groton Junction, was opened for travel, largely increasing 
our facilities for communication with other portions of New 
England, and with New York. 

It was in 1 845 that John G. Whittier took up his abode in 
Lowell as editor of the Middlesex Standard. He remained 
here less than a year, but during his sojourn prepared several 
admirable sketches of Lowell which are republished in his 
Miscellanies. 

In 1845, the business of manufacturing was begun at Law- 
rence, nine miles below Lowell, by the Essex Company ; and 



130 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

soon afterward the fisheries of Merrimack River became the 
subject of a controversy that has continued for twenty years. 

One result of the building of the dam at Pawtucket Falls 
in 1822, was a diminution of the number of fish taken annu- 
ally from the Merrimack. A still further diminution followed 
on the building of other dams, such as those at Amoskeag and 
Bow. Shad and salmon, however, were not entirely banished 
from the Merrimack, until after the erection of the dam at 
Lawrence in 1847. 

This subject, however, never attracted the attention in 
Lowell which it deserves. What greater boon could be be- 
stowed on the poor of Lowell, than a cheap and abundant 
supply of wholesome fish? As late as 1835, it is estimated 
that more than sixty-five thousand shad and over eight hun- 
dred salmon were taken from the Merrimack in Lowell alone. 

In 1866, Messrs. Theodore Lyman and Alfred A. Eeed, 
Commissioners on River Fisheries, made a report to the Gen- 
eral Court, concerning the obstructions to the passage of fish up 
the Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers, suggesting the removal 
of these obstructions, and the re-stocking of these rivers with 
shad, salmon, and other fish, as in the olden time. The con- 
clusions of the Commissioners were that "in order to re-stock 
the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers with shad and salmon, 
fish-ways must be built over the dams ; the pollution of the 
waters must.be prevented; New Hampshire should breed sal- 
mon ; Connecticut should forbid the use of weirs and gill-nets ; 
and stringent laws should be adopted for the regulation of 
fishing." 

In compliance with the recommendations of these Commis- 
sioners, fishways have been erected around all the dams, and 
it can hardly be doubted that from year to year the salmon 
and the shad will resume their visits up the Merrimack, as in 
the olden time. The fishway at Pawtucket Falls is of the 
kind known as the " double stair," consisting of two parallel 
lines of tanks, each twelve feet square and a foot lower than 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 131 

the one next above. There are nine of these tanks, and at the 
bottom there is direct communication with the main channel 
of the river. The tanks are constructed of heavy masonry 
and timber, and are capable of resisting ice and freshets. 

The fishway at Lawrence consists of a drawbridge reaching 
from the crest of the dam to a trough or pass. When the 
drawbridge is down it forms a sloping dam or trough twelve 
feet wide, with a fall of one foot in ten, with only a certain 
depth of water, up which the fish are to pass, aided only by 
resting tanks where they may pause in the ascent. In winter 
the drawbridge is raised and is thus secure from damage by 
ice."* 

The year 1845 was a memorable one for our "brethren of 
the mystic tie." On the tenth of September in that year, the 
Charter of Pentucket Lodge, — originally granted March 9th, 
1807, but surrendered in 1834, in consequence of the Anti- 
Masonic mania which then prevailed, — was restored, and a new 
impetus given to the growth of Masonry in Lowell. Since 
then, three other Lodges have been instituted here — Ancient 
York, in 1852 ; Kilwinning, in 1866 ; and William North, in 
1867. Some months after the re-organization of Pentucket 
Lodge, Mount Horeb Eoyal Arch Chapter recovered the charter 
granted to it in 1826, and resumed its work. But Ahasuerus 
Council of Royal and Select Masters, chartered in the same 
year with Mount Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, was not re-organ- 
ized until 1856. Since the Masonic Revival, signalized by 
the re-opening of Pentucket Lodge, five other organizations 
have been instituted in Lowell, viz. : Pilgrim Encampment of 
Knights Templars, in l<s55 ; Lowell Grand Lodge of Perfec- 
tion, 14^^, in 1857; Lowell Council. Princes of Jerusalem, 16°, 
in 1S57 ; Mount Calvary Chapter, Rose Croix, 18°, in 1858; 
Massachusetts Sov.*. Consistory, S.-. P.*. R.-. S.'., in 1859. 

* Senate Document, No. 8, IHW; Stoi-ers' Report on the Fishes of Massa- 
chusetts; Westminster Review, .July, 1861 ; Harper's Magazine, March, 1862; 
13 Gray, p. 239; 4 Pickering, p. Lio; 5 Ibid, p. 199. 



132 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

In April, 1846, thirteen years from the day of his appoint- 
ment, Joseph Locke resigned his office as Standing Justice of 
the Police Court ; and Nathan Crosby was appointed in his 
place. Judge Locke continued to reside here until his death, 
which occurred November 10th, 1853, at the patriarchal age 
of eighty-two. He was born in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, 
April 8th, 1772, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 
1797. His class furnished the Bar with several lawyers of 
more than ordinary calibre, and the pulpit with four clergy- 
men of distinguished usefulness, besides two physicians, and 
two members of Congress. He studied law with Timothy 
Bigelow, and was admitted to the Bar in 1801, and the next 
year opened an office in Billerica. He was elected Eepresen- 
tative from Billerica in 1806, and was re-elected seven times. 
He was eight years President of the Court of Sessions, and in 
1816 was nominated a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 
but declined. He was a Presidential Elector the same year, 
and voted for Eufus King for President in opposition to James 
Monroe, who was elected. He sat in the Constitutional Con- 
vention of 1820, and was a member of the Grovernor's Council 
in 1822 and 1823. He removed to this city in 1833 ; and at 
once was appointed Justice of the Police Court. He was a 
Eepresentative to the Legislature from Lowell in 1849. Judge 
Locke was a gentleman of the old school ; an accomplished 
lawyer, thoroughly versed in that great body of reason, the 
gathered wisdom of a thousand years — the Common Law. This 
was his specialty, his forte. He also excelled in special plead- 
ing. His career of thirteen years as a police magistrate was 
marked by all the qualities that could confer dignity on the 
post, and develope in the Bar the best traits of the legal, and in 
himself the best traits of the judicial character. His decisions 
were comprehensive and logical, exhibiting a thorough knowl- 
edge of law, and vitalized with a true spirit of justice. Those 
who practiced before him concur in the attestation that he was 
a man of strong mind, clear and ready discernment, abundant 




KATHAN CROSBY. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 133 

learning and excellent skill in explaining and illustrating 
judicial problems. In dealing with criminals, especially the 
Celtic criminal s> who were often before him, he exercised a 
broad and tender humanity that illustrated both ideal and 
practical justice. 

Appropriate resolutions were passed, on the occasion of hi8 
decease, by the Lowell Bar, in which his personal integrity,^ 
professional ability and amiable manners were recogni^e^ andj 
applauded. 

Judge CroaVy 'was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, Feb-. 
ruary 12th,- 1798, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 
1820, in the same class with George P, Marsh, Judge Upton 
and Judge Nesmith. He commenced practice as a lawyer in 
his native state, but removed to Massachusetts in 1 826, and 
practiced first at Amcsbury, and afterward at Newburyport^ 
He was early identified with the Anti-Slavery and other JVj. 
forms, and wa3 one of the earliest and most active advocates 
of Railroads. The passage of the famous liquor law of 1838 
brought him into the field as an advocate of that measure, 
and he lectured extensively under the auspices of the Massa- 
chusetts Temperance Union. He also edited the Temperat^ot^ 
Journal a^d various doQaments that were issued during ^i 
interesting stage m tbe progress of the Temperance Re^C/i-ip. 
In 1843, he ;'emoved from Boston to Lowell, and was &iiQces§- 
fully employed in carrying out the excellent scheme ^r, aug- 
menting the water-power of the Memmack River, by sreaiing 
reservoirs more than a hundred square miles in exi^at, near 
the outlets of Winnepissawkee, Stj^iiare and Newf<?j:^i^d Lakes. 

Since his elevation to oi^r police bench, Judge: Srosbv has 
mitigated the asperities ©flaw, wkb the amenitiee.afjit^r^ature. 
An annual volume of obituary aotices of emineat -pei'sons was 
projected by him : aad, two yoruraes were issued,— .-.Qae^io 1856, 
the other in 185T,.— ^which. will be a valuabk Legacy^ to. future 
biographers audi liistorians;. A eulogy of Webster,., a lecture 

* Abraham J.inc.ln was bopq,t«\ the same day, ruxie vraj;^ i^Jt^""^ '~ 

12 •■ ^' ■•''"■•" 



134 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



on India, and other discourses delivered by him, have attested 
his possession of oratorical abilities of a high order. 

In 1846, our population was twenty-nine thousand one hun- 
dred and twenty-seven. The city of Lawrence had just 
started ; and to facilitate intercourse between the two places, 
the Lowell and Lawrence Eailroad was incorporated during 
this year, with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars. 




On the thirtieth of June, 1847, President Polk and his 
Secretary of State, James Buchanan, together with other dis- 
tinguished gentlemen, visited Lowell, and were received by 
Mayor Bancroft at the Bleachcry Depot, where congratula- 
tions were exchanged. He was escorted tlirou'ih the principal 
streets, with the usual ceremonies, by the City Guards, the 
Phalanx, and the Westford Ilifle Company. The mills were 
closed, and all business suspended. The President and his 
party visited the Middlesex and Prescott Mills on the follow- 
ing day, and expressed much satisfaction with their visit. 

On the twelfth of September, 1847, Patrick T. Jackson 
suddenly passed away at Beverly, in his sixty-eighth year. 
Twelve years previously, on the completion of the Boston and 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 135 

Lowell Railroad, he felt that his longest day's task was done, 
and he was then disposed to retire from the active business 
of life. But a dark cloud settled down over this great and 
good man. While building up works for future generations, 
his property, which he had so hardly earned, passed from 
his hands. Speculation had made him, for the third time in 
his life, a poor man. But his powerful mind was not to be 
distracted even now ; and he met his reverses with a dignified 
composure which would have done honor to a philosopher. He 
retrenched his expenses, which had previously been enormous 
and princely ; resumed his harness with a cheerful spirit, and 
again went forth to the stern conflict of life. Under circum- 
stances like these, ordinary life becomes a poem, and daily 
labor a triumph of heroism. 

Mr. Boott died in 1837 ; and in consequence of his death the 
stock of the Locks and Canals Company seriously depreciated 
in value. The death of Mr. Boott had created a vacancy which 
only one man living could fill ; and that man was Mr. Jackson. 
He accepted the agentship with the liberal salary of ten thou- 
sand dollars a year. His whole life had been one long school- 
terra, eminently fitting him for this responsible post. How 
well he filled it, will be seen by the fact, that the stock 
of the company, when the reorganization in 1845 occurred, 
commanded sixteen hundred dollars a share, and that the same 
stock, after the death of Mr. Boott, sold for less than seven 
hundred dollars a share. 

Before h^. closed his connection with the Locks and Canals 
Company, Mr. Jackson accepted the post of agent and treasurer 
of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company at Somersworth — 
a corporation which had encountered so many reverses, that a 
man of Mr. Jackson's stamp was absolutely necessary to their 
final success. He put their aifairs in such admirable condition, 
that his share of their profits amounted to about twelve thou- 
sand dollars a year. This was in addition to the salary of 
ten thousand dollars a year, paid him by the Locks and Canals 



136 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Company. During a portion of the time lie received other 
salaries besides. His aggregate income was truly enormous ; 
— he was soon restored to competence ; — but when we consider 
the extraordinary character of the man, and the prestige ol 
success which attended him in all his undertakings, we shall 
find that he was actually the cheapest man that could be hired. 
No such salaries are now paid ; no such men are to be found ; 
and, indeed, none are in demand. 

His abilities fitted him for the highest theatre of human 
action. He could have governed the vastest empire with un- 
surpassed splendor, had Providence called hira to a throne. 
To unlimited grasp of mind, he united the capacity to master 
the most complicated details, together with spotless integrity, 
unconquerable self reliance, " honor enlightened by religion 
and guarded by conscience," independence in all his own opin- 
ions, and a catholic liberality toward the views of his oppo- 
nents. The man never lived who more richly deserved to be 
sculptured in marble, or depicted on canvas, or whose praises 
could form a worthier theme for the orator or the poet.=''' 

The wooden bridge over Concord River near the Cemetery 
was constructed in 1847, superceding the stone bridge below it. 

In 1847, the great Northern Canal was completed, — being 
the greatest work of the kind in the United States. The object 
of the canal, as well as of the subterranean canal under Moody 
street, was, to keep constantly a fuller head of water than 
could previously be obtained, in the several canals that feed 
the water into the flumes of the various mills. The, canal was 
constructed by the combined companies, in less than eighteen 
months, at a cost of five hundred thousand dollars. It was 
first filled with water on Thanksgiving-Day, in the year last 
mentioned. James B, Francis, the Agent and Chief Engineer 
of the Locks and Canals Company, was the architect of this 
stupendous work. AVell may he say — 

" Exegi monumentum (ere perenniusy 
* Lowell's Memoir of Jackson, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 137 

A great portion of the canal was excavated through the solid 
rock. Its length is nearly a mile; its breadth a hundred feet; 
and its depth eighteen feet. Its water-section is exactly fif- 
teen hundred square feet. The banks are lined with a double 
colonnade of trees, tastefully laid out, with green plats, and 
beautiful summer prominades. Along these picturesque banks, 
will ** future sons and daughters yet unborn," take sentimental 
walks by moon-light, while tales of love find tender audience, 
and visions of a matrimonial Elysium dance through their 
minds. 

In 1847, the Appleton Bank was incorporated, with a capital 
of $100,000, since increased to $800,000. 

In 1848, the Salem and Lowell Railroad Company was in- 
corporated, with a capital of four hundred thousand dollars. 
The road was opened for travel, August 1st, 1850. The City 
Institution for Savings was also incorporated in 1848. Its 
design was to afford means to employ small sums of money to 
advantage, to those who desired to save a part of their earn- 
ings, but had not yet acquired a sufficient surplus to purchase 
a share in the banks, or in the public stocks. These little 
investments are made without that risk of loss, to which pri- 
vate loans are more or less exposed. 

On the twentieth of February, 1848, at the suggestion of 
the City Council, all business was suspended, and the bells, 
draped in black, tolled an hour, from twelve o'clock till one, 
on the occasion of the death of John Quincy Adams. 

On the sixteenth of September, 1848, Abraham Lincoln 
made a visit to Lowell, and addressed a Whig meeting in the 
evening, in the City Hall. An unfailing fund of strong com- 
mon sense, a fine vein of mother wit and genial humor, a 
steady flow of clear and cogent argument, a frank and liberal 
partisanship, a broad and generous patriotism, "charity for all, 
malice for none " — these were the characteristics of his speech. 
He was listened to with close attention, and frequently loudly 
applauded. But with how much deeper interest would that 
12^ 



138 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

audience have hung upon his words, had they foreseen that 
the genial countenance of their homely orator would one day 
be encircled with an aureole of glory — that, indeed, they were 
listening to a man who was to be enshrined forever in Ameri- 
can history as second only to Washington, and hardly second 
to him ! 

The discovery of gold in Col. Sutter's mill-race in Cali- 
fornia, in August, 1848, — the greatest event, perhaps, since 
the discovery of America by Columbus, — wrought wonderful 
changes in the character of the operatives of the Lowell mills. 
The news of that event fell upon their ears with seductive 
thrill. From that day a change began to work itself out in 
the people here. The Americans started by scores for the 
iaaad of gold. This Californian emigration, together with that 
to the great West, deprived Lowell of some of the best elements 
in her varied population. 

In £648, two j&re insurance companies were incorporated in 
Lowell — the Howard, and the Traders and Mechanics'. The 
Lowell Mutual had been incorporated sixteen years previously. 

On April 24th, 1849, the City Council invited President 
Taylor to visit Lowell. Public business compelled the Presi- 
dent to decline. On July 13th, 1850, business was suspended, 
hd\s tolled, cannon boomed: — Zachary Taylor was no more. 

On Sunday evening, September 11th, 1849, the fight be- 
tween the CorkoBrians and the Far-Downers, commonly called 
■'•' the Battle of Suffolk Bridge," was fought on Lowell street. 
(One man was shot and several others injured by stones, of 
\which tQji cart-loads were used. Instead of the Militia, the 
'Firemen were foolishly called out ; the riot act was read, the 
aid of the Koman Catholic clergy obtained, and finally peace 
.restored. Stephen Castles and twenty-four others were sub- 
sequently indicted as rioters, and some of them were afforded 
an opportunity to meditate on their folly within the walls of 
a prison. The controversy between the Corkonians and the 
Far-Downers was adjourned to the Greek Kalends, when it 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 139 

is lioped, it will be settled en its merits, without the inter- 
meddling of Militia, Firemen, Priesthood or Police. 

Two days subsequent to the riot, Father Mathew visited 
Lowell, and was honored with a public reception. While here, 
he administered the Temperance Pledge to about five thousand 
persons, and the beneficial fruits of his labors were long visi- 
ble among his co-religionists. Among the results of his visit 
was the Mathew Institute, an Irish literary society, organized 
October 16th, 1849, and incorporated in 1855. It flourished 
till 1860, and then passed out of existence. 

In 1849, the reservoir on Lynde's Hill was constructed by 
the Locks and Canals Company, under the direction of James 
B. Francis. Its capacity is two million gallons, and its eleva- 
tion is about two hundred feet above the level of the mill- 
yards. It is supplied with water by force-pumps driven by 
Water-power. A twelve-inch pipe connects the reservoir with 
the yards of all of the great corporations. From these pipes 
the water flows under a pressure of eighty pounds to the square 
inch, afi'ording admirable means for extinguishing fires, not 
only on the corporations, but in the city generally."'-' 

* Francis on the Means for Extinguishing Fire. Journal of Franklin 
Institute, April, 18'J5. 



140 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 1850-1860. 

Gas— The Court House— Centi-alYille—C7^j;ccn <ind Xeics—TMoomer Ball- 
Mechanics' Fair— Reform School — H. S. Tremenheere— Co ?<rt>r-Butler Li- 
bels—George Wellman— Louis Kossuth— Temperance Court— Huntington 
Hall — Ten Hour Agitation— Samitel Appleton — Otto Club — Agricultural 
Society— Joseph Hiss — Elisha Bartlett— Abbott Lawrence— The Jail — 
Thomas Hopkinson — Thomas H.Benton — Mary Barnard — Mechanics' 
Fair— ly.nrnpet Libels — Secret Societies — Robert Burns- Jane Ermina 
Locke — Trial for Perjury. 






On Janunry Tst, 1^50, Gas was first introduced by the 
Lowell Gns Linht Company, which had been incorporated in 
1849, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars. The 
works of this company are capable of producing one hundred 
and fifty thousand cubic feet per day. Mertoun C. Bryant 
was their Agent till 1802, when Oliver E. Cushing succeeded 
him. 

In 1850, the Vrescott Bank was incorporated, with a capital 
of SI 00,000, now $800,000. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



141 



In the same year, the spacious Court-House on Gorham 
street was erected, costing about one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. This edifice is of brick, fire-proof throughout, and is 
one of the handsomest court-houses in the country. 








In 1851, the area of the city was extended by the annexa- 
tion of Centralville, previously a part of Dracut. 

On June 4th, 1851, the Daily News made its first appear- 
ance ; and three years later, Z. E. Stone established the Amer- 
ican Citizen, daily and weekly. In 1856, these papers were 



142 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

united. Among tbe editors of these journals were Enoch 
Emery, Ahram Keach, L. R. Streeter, Zina E. Stone, Frank 
Crosby, Leonard Brown, John A. Goodwin, and Chauncy L. 
Knapp. 

On July 22nd, 1851, was held the famous "Bloomer Ball," 
the first practical attempt to introduce the costume originated 
by Mrs. Amelia Bloomer of Seneca, New York. The ball was 
a success, but the costume was not a success. 

On September 16th, 1851, the Middlesex Mechanics' Asso- 
ciation opened their first Fair, with Ithamar A. Beard as 
Superintendent. The Fair continued until October 16th, and 
the number of entrees on the catalogue of articles exhibited 
was 1483. The Committee of Arrangements consisted of 
Oliver M. Whipple, (Chairman,) Mertoun C. Bryant, (Secre- 
tary), Sewall G. Mack, Samuel W. Brown, William Fiske, 
D. A. G. Warner, Lucius A. Cutler, Josiah Gates John W. 
Smith, Walter Wright, J. G. Peabody and David Dana. 

In 1851, the Lowell Reform School was established for the 
reformation of juvenile ofi'enders. There from twenty -five to 
forty boys have ever since been confined, under sentences im- 
posed by the Police Court, and generally covering periods of 
six or twelve months. The offences for which boys are com- 
mitted are truancy, larceny, disobedience to parents, defacing 
school-houses, fruit-stealing, etc. The institution has abund- 
antly justified the hopes of Judge Locke, Dr. Huntington and 
others, who urged the utility of such an institution, years before 
this school was established. But the situation of the school 
in connection with the Alms House is decidedly objectionable. 
A truant boy is not necessarily vicious. His self-respect ought 
not to be wounded by assimilating him with paupers — much 
less with criminals. Moreover, the system is radically wrong, 
which puts wayward boys into the same dock, arraigns them 
at the same bar, and deals with them by the same forms, as 
drunkards, prostitutes and thieves. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 143 

It was in the fall of 1851, that the English writer, Hugh 
Seymour Tremenheere, visited Lowell. The results of his 
observation in America were published during the following 
year, in his " Notes on Public Subjects." His remarks on 
public education were enriched with a communication from 
the Rev. Dr. Edson, which provoked considerable hostile criti- 
cism, at the time, though substantially the same views had 
been presented by Dr. Edson, twenty years earlier, at a meet- 
ing of an association of the teachers of Middlesex County. 
He says: — : 

" Seeing that the system of public schools established by law was the 
ouly oue possible under the circumstances of the country, I have applied 
myself with all the zeal in my power to make it eflScient; and I have endeav- 
ored to cause the deficiency of religious instruction in the day-schools to be 
supplied by encouraging Sunday Schools, . . seeing in them the only mode 
under our system to imprint on the minds of those who most require such 
teaching, the principles of Revealed Religion. My ex])erience, however, has 
forced upon me the painful conviction that oiir public school system has 
undermined already among our population, to a great extent, the doctrines 
and i^riuciples of Chi-istianity." 

Of the young people who flow into Lowell from the neigh- 
boring states, he observes, — 

" That they possess a knowledge of none, or nearly none, of the distinc- 
tive principles of the Christian faith, and that many are in a state of mind 
beyond that of mere indifference, though not precisely in that of those im- 
bued with the principles of Fx-ench and (merman Inlidelity. I tind in them 
a considerable indifference as to what sect they may belong to, thinking all 
religious alike, and generally showing a gi-eat ignorance of the Bible, which 
they profess to take as their guide. 

" I And many not only unable to repeat any of the Ten Commandments, 
but entirely unaware of their being any Ten Commandments at all. I find 
them generally well grounded in the elements of what is called common 
education, and clever and acute as to all worldly matters that concern them, 
but very lax in their notions of moral obligation and duty, and indisposed 
to submit to any authority or control whatever, even from a very early age. 
. . . There is indeed a school of persons in this country, and a very im- 
merous one, who think it wrong to influence a child in its adoption of any 
religious belief. Very commonly, also, no point of doctrine seems to have 
been effectually and thoroughly explained to them and taught as from au- 
thority. . . . From throwing off authority in regard to religious matters, 
and holding doctrines loosely, the step is easy to abandon them altogether, 
and accordingly . . . the great majority of those now growing up cannot 
be said to hold more than belongs to mere Natural Religion. I look upon this 
very prevalent condition of mind with very great apprehension, for all history 



144 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

shows that this is only the first downward step to complete irreligiou and infi- 
delity, and thence to the corruption of morals, such as was exhibited in the 
Heathen world. I much fear that we ai-e. making sure and not very slow 
strides in that direction, and while I deeply lament it, I am free to confess 
I see no present remedy for it in this country." 

The children of the Irish population, the Doctor observes, 
«' are well looked after by their priests." As to the rest, he 
says, — 

" I believe that less than half of the whole number of children between 
the ages of five and sixteen attend any Sunday-school, or do so only most 
irregularly. It is easy to infer what sort of hold the Bible, its precepts and 
its doctrines, can be likely to have on minds thus loosely prepared for the 
temptations of life." 

With those who mistake diffused superficiality for universal 
high culture, such views as these were not likely to be received 
with favor. But these views are not peculiar to Dr. Edson. 
Caleb Gushing, for example, holds that our public schools are 
inferior to those of many European countries, producing a 
much smaller proportion of pupils who thoroughly understand 
the four rudimentary arts — reading, spelling, writing and cy- 
phering ; while Ralph Waldo Emerson hails it as an auspicious 
sign, that the most advanced minds of the age have renounced 
Theology and fallen back on Morals. 

In 1852, a personal political controversy of several years' 
duration, between Benjamin F. Butler and John H. Warland, 
editor of the Courier, reached its culminating point. This 
quarrel was begun originally by Mr. Butler, who, at a Demo- 
cratic caucus, called attention to certain disfigurments on Mr. 
Warland's face, which he attributed to Warland's illicit dal- 
liances with the fair, frail, black-eyed Creoles whom he had 
met while with Gen. Scott in Mexico. Such an insult was 
quite too much for Warland, who, with the "fine frenzy" of 
a poet, combined another frenzy of a far more savage kind. 
It was like waving a red flag before a fighting bulk Accord- 
ingly, the infuriated Warland proceeded to punish Butler by 
publishing in the Courier a series of the most galling personal 
invectives. Of course, Butleir replied ; and mpn?;& aJter month 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 145 

the war of words waged — the Courier making daily discharges 
of printed filth on Butler, and Butler from the rostrum send- 
ing back a stream of foul abuse on Warland. 

Butler and Warland were pretty evenly matched ; but when 
Benjamin W. Ball came into the field as an ally of Warland, 
there was a preponderance of vituperation on the side of the 
Courier. Ball had previously distinguished himself by a vol- 
ume of poems, and with the exception of John P. Robinson, 
he was probably the best Greek scholar that ever lived in 
Lowell. He wrote a caustic epitaph in rhyme, and several 
prose diatribes on Butler, some of which were not unworthy 
of Peter Porcupine or even Junius; though, for exquisite con- 
centration of venom, the best of his squibs would hardly com- 
pare with the later eifasions of " Brick Pomeroy," of the La 
Crosse Democrat. 

Soiarting under these blistering invectives, Butler appealed 
for protection to the Courts. Accordingly, at the February 
term of the Court of Common Pleas, the grand jury presented 
two indictments against Warland, and two against Samuel J. 
Varney, Warland's editorial associate, for libels on Butler in 
the Courier. Judge Hoar presided at the trials, the result of 
which shows how wide a gulf often separates law from justice. 
Varney, who was innocent, was convicted, and mulcted with 
a fifty-dollar fine. Warland, who was guilty, was acquitted ;, 
while Butler who began the fight, and Ball who joined it with- 
out provocation, were never called to account at all.='' 

Another event signalized the year 1852, of far more impor- 
tance than any quarrels of politicians, journalists or lawyers. 
During that year, George Well man completed his first working 
model of his self top card stripper — one of the most valuable 

* Ciiminal Records of the Court of Common Pleas, Middlesex Count}',. 
1852, pp. 341-347 and 8y2-:J!;5; and 10 Cashing, 402. 

The indictments are in Gen. Butler's hand-writing. Hereafter, as the sol- 
itary, curious student reads these cold, formal records, he will hardly realize 
what tierce and malignant passions burned themselves out in this intensely 
bitter quarrel. 

13 



146 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

inventions of the present century — which was patented in 
1853. Two additional patents for improvements in this in- 
vention were obtained by Mr. Wellman — one in 1854, the 
other in 1857. Three patents for the same invention were 
also obtained by him in England — the last in 1860. The 
governments of France, Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Wurtem- 
burg, Belgium, and Bavaria, have also granted patents for the 
self top card stripper. 

Mr. Wellman was born in Boston, March 16th, 1810, and 
was "the first-born son of his parents, a sound, healthy, pro- 
ductive couple, who subsequently had twelve other children ; 
— a family such as would gladden the heart of Dr. Allen, if he 
could only find such an one, in these days of physical degen- 
eracy and decay. About 1835, Mr. Wellman came to Lowell, 
and for many years had charge of a carding-room on the Mer- 
rimack Corporation. In 1845, he invented the stop motion, 
used on the dressing-frame and winder, but neglected to take 
out a patent for it. His mind, however, had been fixed on 
the invention of a self top card stripper while he was employed 
at North Chelmsford, long before the invention of this stop 
motion ; and he continued thinking and working at it till he 
had realized his thought in a perfect working machine. 

To show the value of this invention, it may be stated here 
that the average cost of stripping a card by hand was three 
hundred dollars per annum, all of which is saved by this in- 
vention, the application of which to each machine, involves an 
outlay of less than sixty-dollars altogether. This invention 
also saves from one-fourth to one-eighth of a cent per pound 
on the raw cotton. 

In 1854, Mr. AYellman offered to sell to the corporations the 
exclusive right to use this invention in Lowell, for three thou- 
sand dollars. The agents of the companies met at the Merri- 
mack Counting--Eoom, and after grave deliberation, stupidly 
ilecliued the offer. Since then, more than twenty-five thousand 



^^^^5^^^^^-;^^^=;^:^^^ 



im^- 



m 




GEORGK WELOIAN, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 147 

dollars have been paid by these corporations for the use of the 
self top card stripper. 

Mr. Wellman died, April 4th, 1804. His sun may be said 
to have gone down at noon, since he had not completed his 
fifty-fourth year. The pen of history can never be better em- 
ployed than in recording the achievements of men of inventive 
genius, like Wellman. A late Commissioner of Patents has 
justly observed that — 

"All that is glorious in our past or hoi)eful in our future is indissolubly 
linked with that cause of human progress of which inventors are the preux 
chevaliers. It is no poetic translation of the abiding sentiment of the country 
to say that Jhey are the true jewels of the nation to which they belong. . . 
The schemes of th(! politician and of the statesman may subserve the pur- 
poses of the hour, and the teachings of the moralist may remain with the 
generation to which they are addressed, but all this must pass away; while 
the fruits of the inventor's genius will endure as imperishable memorials, 
and, surviving the wre^k of creeds and systems, alike of politics, religion 
and philosophy, will diffuse their blessings to all lands and throughout all 
ages." * 

On May 6th, lvS52, Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, 
then on a tour of triumph through the Uuited States, by special 
invitation of the citizens, visited Lowell, and was received with 
the warmest enthusiasm. He was escorted by the military 
companies through the principal streets, attended by a proces- 
sion of some thousands of citizens, amid the ringing of bells, 
the music of bands, the thunder of cannon, and the loudest 
demonstrations of joy. He visited several of the mills, and 
the Northern Canal. In the evening, 'in St. Paul's Church, he 
received an address of welcome from Mayor Huntington, and 
delivered a beautiful oration, characterized by what Mr. Choate 
would term " the sweetest, most melting, most awful of the 
tones that man may ever utter, or may ever hear, — the elo- 
quence of an exoiring nation ! " 

In 1852, the Legislature of Massachusetts enacted the first 
prohibitory liquor law. Early in the year following, under 

* Holt's Decision on Goodvear's Patent, ISjIS. 



148 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



the encouragement of certain zealous but imprudent friends of 
prohibition, Timothy Pearson undertook to enforce this law as 
a Justice of the Peace. The farce of a temperance court con- 
tinued to be played by Pearson till the Supreme Court ousted 
him of his usurped jurisdiction." 

In 1853, the Merrimack Street Depot was erected, jointly 
by the City and the Boston and Lowell Eailroad Corporation. 
Whether it was wise on the part of the city to engage in 
a joint enterprise of this kind, has been gravely questioned. 
Two spacious halls, were fitted up in the upper stories of this 
edifice : — one named Huntington Hall, in honor of Elisha 
Huntington ; the other named Jackson Hall, in honor of Pat- 
rick T. Jackson. 

Synchroniously with the building of this Depot, the City 
Hall Building was reconstructed, and the hall from which it 
took its name became a thing of the past. Many interesting 
memories are associated with that Hall. There had been wit- 
nessed the most tumultuous scenes in our early history. There 
had been fought the battle for the schools, — the battle for Bel- 
videre, — the battle for the Charter, — the battle for the Market 
House, — the battle for Caleb Cushing as the " Eepresentative 
Man." There the heart of young Lowell had throbbed under 
the passionate eloquence of Clay. There had spoken Abraham 
Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Eufus Choate, 
Edward Everett, John M. Berrian, Lewis Cass, Levi Wood- 
bury, Isaac Hill, and others of the great men of America, 
who have since passed out of time into histor3^ 

Eor some years prior to 1853, the policy of regulating by 
law the hours of labor in factories, had been one of the most 
prominent subjects of popular agitation. It had been a great 
source of power to the Coalition, enabling the Democrats and 
Free Sellers to overthrow the ascendency of the Whigs here, 
in spite of their protestations that they, too, were Ten Hour 

* Commonwealth V. Emery, 11 Cushing, 10t>; Piper v. Pearson, 2 Gray, 
120 ; Emery v. Hapgood, 7 Gray, 55. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 149 

Men/-' On September 21st, 1853, the corporations reduced 
the hours of labor, of their own accord, to an average of 
eleven hours a day ; and for a time the Ten Hour agitation 
subsided. Upon the revival of this agitation in 1855, when 
the Legislature seemed determined to enact a Ten Hour Law, 
the corporation managers in Boston adopted the policy of Wal- 
pole, and killed the Bill by secretly buying up some of the 
most influential of its advocates! The Legislature of 1855 
has been the object of much opprobrium. It has often been 
compared to the Lack Learning Parliament which sat in Eng- 
land in the reign of Henry the Fourth. But the " Lobby " 
which controlled that Legislature, was more remarkable still. 
There the men who for years had clamored for a Ten Hour 
Law, and whose pockets had been lined with corporation gold, 
were seen "doing the heavy standing round," and suggesting 
to members that as the operatives were satisfied with the 
eleven-hour rule, it was not worth while to carry the matter 
further. Accordingly, the Bill failed. 

On July 12th, 1853, died Samuel Appleton, (brother olf 
Nathan, and cousin of William,) f aged eighty.eight years. 
He had been largely interested in Lowell Manufactures from 
the start. 

In 1853, the VVamesit Bank was incorporated. Its capital 
is $200,000. 

In 1854, the Merchants' Bank was incorporated, with a 
capital of $100,000, since increased to $300,000. The Five 
Cent Savings Bank was also incorporated during this year. 

*In 18.12, that drollest of loaal Whig politicians, Tappan Wentworth. actu- 
ally induced all the Whig candidates for the Legislature to pledge themselves 
to vote for the Ten Hour Bill! This artful dodge assisted Wentworth into 
Congress; but, at the same time, all the Whig candidates for the Legisla- 
ture were defeated- 

t William Appleton died Febi'uary loth, 1832. He was chosen a member 
of Congress in 18)J, and again in 18r)2. He was again elected in 18G0, defeat- 
ing Anson Burlingame. 

13^:^ 



150 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

In 1854, the Young Men's Catholic Library Association 
was incorporated ; its object being literary and elocutionary 
culture. 

In the same year, the Otto Club of vocalists was formed 
under the management of P. P. Haggerty. This club still 
lives. The Philharmonic Society, the Mozart Society and oth- 
ers, of older date, formed for' the cultivation of instrumental 
music, have collapsed. 

In 1855, the Middlesex North Agricultural Society was in- 
corporated. Their Fair Grounds were purchased and their 
building erected in 1860. 

On March 29th, 1855, Joseph Hiss and his associates on 
the famous Legislative " Smelling Committee" came to Lowell, 
and inspected the school of the Sisters of Notre Dame, estab- 
lished September 14th, 1853. While here. Hiss made the 
acquaintance of Mrs. Moody, alids "Mrs. Patterson," with 
whom he passed the night at the Washington House. The 
virtuous indignation of his colleagues was aroused at this, and 
-the House of Representatives expelled him. The results of 
the visit were, to make Hiss notorious and the Legislature 
ridiculous, and to furnish some sensational cuts for the comic 
and pictorial newspapers. 

On May 29th, 1855, the bicentennial anniversary of the 
incorporation of Billerica was appropriately commemorated by 
the people of that ancient town. 

On July 16th, 1855, an act of the Legislature was sub- 
mitted for the acceptance of the citizens of Lowell, providing 
for the abolition of the Police Court, and the establishment of 
a Municipal Court. It was rejected — yeas, 1330; nays, 1448. 

On July 22nd, 1855, Dr. Elisha Bartlett died of paralysis 
at Smithfield, in Rhode Island. He was born in the same 
town, October 6th, 1801, and commenced practice in Lowell 
in 1827. He took an active part in local politics, and was 
Lowell's first Mayor. He subsequently held medical profes- 
sorships in Pittsfield, Dartmouth, Baltimore, Transylvania, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 151 

Louisville and Woodstock. He also held a professorship for 
three years in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the 
City of New York. He was the author of a variety of pro- 
fessional and miscellaneous works, and was one of the few 
who love to turn aside from the thorny road of professional 
practice, to tread the flowery paths of literature. His princi- 
pal work was on the " Philosophy of Medical Science." A man 
of fine culture, — of incorruptible integrity, — with a clear head 
and a warm heart, — filling with distinguished credit some of 
the highest places of his profession, — and never playing the 
part of a demagogue ; Lowell may cherish with peculiar pride 
the name and memory of her first Mayor. =■'•'= 

On the eighteenth of August, 1855, died xibbott Lawrence, 
who, though never a citizen of Lowell, had, for a quarter of a 
century, been closely identified with Lowell interests. Two 
of his brothers — Luther and Samuel — long resided here. He 
was born at Groton, December 16th, 1792, and educated in 
the public schools of his native town. He was assiduous in 
business, studious of books, and always prepared to take ad- 
vantage of those chances which fortune now and then opens 
to every aspiring young man. He was first engaged with his 
brothers in the importing business, in Boston; and did not 
become interested in the Lowell companies till 1830. He 
rendered signal service in building up the cotton manufacture 
in America on an enduring basis, and gave his name to the 
city next below^ Lowell on the line of the Merrimack. 

He was not by profession a statesman. But he was Commis- 
sioner in 1842 to adjust (with Lord Ashburton) the North- 
eastern boundary ; he was also a prominent candidate for the 
Whig nomination for Vice President in 1848, and narrowly 
escaped the position which, on the death of Taylor, made Mr. 
Fillmore President of the United States. He was ofi^ered and 
decli,ned the Secretaryship of the Navy, but accepted the post 
of Minister to England, in 1849, and honored both himself 

* Huutiiigton's Memoir of Bartlett, 1850. 



152 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

and his country by the manner in which he discharged the 
duties of that highest office known to American diplomacy. 
He particularly distinguished himself in the negotiation for a 
ship canal between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific, and 
would probably have succeeded had not Mr. Clayton, then 
Secretary of State, abruptly withdrawn the business from his 
hands. "On the whole," says Nathan x\ppleton, "it may be 
doubted, whether, since the mission of Dr. Franklin, any min- 
ister of the United States has accomplished a diplomatic suc- 
cess greater than must be awarded to Mr. Lawrence." =•'••= 

On April 7th, 1856, on the resignation of S. P. P. Pay of 
Cambridge, (who had held the office thirty-five years), William 
A. Richardson of the Lowell Bar was appointed Judge of Pro- 
bate. Shortly afterward, Luther J. Pletcher, another Lowell 
lawyer, was appointed Judge of Insolvency. 

On May loth, 1858, (the Courts of Insolvency having been 
reconstructed,) Judge Richardson was appointed Judge of In- 
solvency also. In these Courts of Probate and Insolvency, 
and also as one of the codifiers of the General Statutes, Judge 
Richardson has acquired a reputation seldom equaled in these 
departments of juridical labor. 

In May, 1856, the case of Edward D. Clayes versus Louisa 
C. Clayes, a suit for a divorce, and a cross suit between the 
same parties, came on for trial in the Supreme Court here. 
Strange exposures were made which compromised several per- 
sons still living. Both parties were refused a decree. 

On October 28th, 1856, while that gretit magician, Rufus 
Choate, was delivering one of his most powerful appeals for 
the Union, in Huntington Hall, the floor suddenly settled; 
and luowell narrowly escaped a catastrojihe ten fold moie np- 
palling than that which Lawrence afterward suffered ly the 
fall of the Pemberton Mill. There were assembled, not only 
nearly all the Lowell politicians of all parties, (whose loss 

* Memoir of Lawrence, Itli volume, 4th series of the Massachii-etts ills- 
torioal Society's Collections, pp. 495-507. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 153 

would liave been an infinite gain,) but more than three thou- 
sand people of either sex — as many as could stand in the hall 
when all the settees had been removed. The consequences of 
a fall of the building under such circumstances are too dread- 
ful for contemplation. 

On November 17th, 1856, Thomas Hopkinson, one of the 
ablest lawyers that ever practiced in Lowell, died at Cam- 
bridge, in his fifty-third year. He was born at New Sharon, 
Maine, August 25th, lSO-1 ; graduated at Harvard in 1830; 
studied law a part of the time here in the ofiice of Lawrence 
& Cllidden, and was admitted to the Bar in 1833. With 
him were associated as law-partners, first, Seth Ames, and 
afterward, Arthur P. Bonney. He was a Eepresentative in 
the Legislature from Lowell in 183S and 1845, and in 1846 
was a member of the State Senate. In 1848 he was appointed 
a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, but resigned his seat 
on the bench the following jear to accept the Presidency of 
the Boston and Worcester Eailroad, which position he held 
until his death. He sat in the Constitutional Convention of 
1853 as a Delegate from Cambridge. 

From 1856 dates the present Lowell Jail, constructed ac- 
cording to a design by James H. Band. The architectural 
style of this edifice is semi-Gothic, diff'ering in some respects 
from any other structure of the kind. The main body of the 
building is one hundred and twenty-three feet in length ; and 
the width is ninety feet in front, and fifty-four feet in the 
rear. The entire frontage, including the wings, is one hun- 
dred and eighty-eight feet. It is four stories high, with an 
octagon tower on each of the front corners of the main body of 
the edifice. It was first occupied, March 20th, 1858. The 
male and female prisoners are kept entirely separate. One of 
the wings is devoted to female prisoners, and the other occu- 
pied as the residence of the Sheriff, who is also the Jailer. 
There are ninety cells for males, and twelve for females, two 
hospitals, four rooms for temporary confinement, with kitchens, 



154 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

wash-rooms, bath-rooms, and all the other accompaniments of 
a modern prison. The cost of this handsome edifice was about 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The senseless manner 
in which the County Commissioners wasted the people's money 
on this jail, brought the "ring" which has so long controlled 
our county affairs into disrepute. But the power of this " ring " 
still remains unbroken. 

On the sixteenth of January, 1857, the distinguished Thomas 
H. Benton visited the mills of Lowell, and spoke in the eve- 
ning on the preservation of the Union, in Huntington Hall. 
Some of his observations were of a local character, and are 
too valuable to be omitted : — 

" I have always loved to view the monuments of greatness. Lowell is 
one of those monuments herself. W^hen I entered the Senate of the United 
States, in 1823, the Merrimack Company had just started their first mill. Now, 
Lowell has a population of nearly forty thousand, and a valuation of fifteen 
million dollars. During my first year in the Senate, I presented a statement 
that cotton would become a great staple of trade between the North and the 
South. But I was disregarded. Now, Lowell alone uses seventy or eighty 
thousand bales each year; yet this is biit one of the many places where this 
article finds a market. The domestic consumption of cotton now exceeds in 
value the entire exports of the country in 1823. 

" I have gone through your factories, from top to bottom, and have been 
astonished at the perfection of your machinery. But there was something 
which astonished me even more. It was the cleanliness which pervaded 
every department. It was the ample rooms, well ventilated in summer, and 
well w^armed in winter. It was the neat and comely appearance of the oper- 
atives, both male and female. It was that which struck me. It was my busi- 
ness to converse with all. I conversed with the young women, and I found 
them attractive and comely, modest without being bashful, of easy confi- 
dence without assurance, ready in conversation without forwardness, and of 
great intelligence. I went into their boarding houses, and there all my ideas 
were reversed; for I had before me the picture of the operatives as they are 
(or were) in the old world, — living in small, narrow, confined, uncomfortable 
buildings, stinted for food and clothing. On the contrary, I found the opera- 
tives as comfortably and as handsomely situated as members of Congress in 
Washington. They live in large, stately, elegant houses, and you enter in 
the same manner as you enter a parlor in Washington. You are shown into 
the parlor, where you see the same kind of furniture as you will find in a 
Congressman's boarding-house in Washington. The tables are covered with 
better books and more of them, if we except public documents, than are 
usually found in a Congressman's parlor. It was near the dinner-hour when 
I went to one of these houses, and I carried my curiosity so far as to ask the 
mistress of the house to take me into the cooking department and show me 
how she cooked. She said she Avas taken unawares, and was not prepared for 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 155 

it. I yaid that that was exactly the thing I wanted ; I wanted to see it as it was 
every day. Without more ado, she opened the door and led me in, and there 
was cooking going on in a room so neat that a lady might sit there and carry 
on her sewing or ornamental work. This was the condition in which I found 
the houses of the operatives; and to all these comforts they add the leisure 
to read and cultivate the mind. I was struck with this as a matter peculiarly 
interesting in those who are about to become wives of one generation and 
mothers of the next." 

In 1857, James M. Harmon started a weekly paper of a 
highly sensational character — The Trumpet. His personali- 
ties cost him one severe physical castigation, and two indict- 
ments for libels, one on Judge Crosby, the other on a brother 
editor, Enoch Emery. Eor the former, he was tried, convicted 
and incarcerated for three months in the House of Correction. 

In 1857, died Mary Barnard, a widow, and an operative in 
the Lowell mills. Upon the settlement of her estate, there 
remained about sixty dollars, which was paid by John A. But- 
trick, her executor, to Oberlin College, her residuary legatee. 
He who valued the widow's mite above other more lavish gifts, 
will surely not forget Mary Barnard's charity. It was the 
first legacy to a strictly public object ever left by a citizen of 
Lowell. 

On September 10th, 1857' was opened the second Fair of 
the Middlesex'Mechanics' Association, with John W. Smith as 
Superintendent. It closed October 7 th, and the number of 
exhibitors was 1225. The managing committee were Mertoun 
C. Bryant, (Chairman,) Alfred Gilman, (Secretary,) William 
Fiske, Josiah Gates, Josiah G. Peabody, Samuel W. Stickney, 
Erastus Boydon, Abiel Piolfe, James Cook, Sewall G. Mack, 
Andrew Moody, Hocum Hosford, John Simpson, Levi Sprague, 
Samuel K. Hutchinson, Samuel J. Varney, Amos Sanborn and 
Francis H. Nourse. 

In 1858, two divisions of the Sons of Temperance were 
formed in Lowell; — Wamesit and Pawtucket. Two others 
were afterward added — Passaconaway and Equality. Formed 
for one of the noblest purposes, they rapidly degenerated in 
character, and all of them collapsed. Other societies under 



156 HISTORY or LOWELL. 

different names, some of earlier, and some of later date, have 
had the same origin, and the same end. 

In 1858, the late William Wyman projected an observatory, 
to be erected in Belvidere, to be one hundred feet high, and 
forty feet square. The foundations only were laid when Cap- 
tain Wyman died; and the "Washington Observatory" exists 
only on paper. It was as much a work of folly as the Tower 
of Isabel. 

From the same year dates Washington Square. 

On January 2r)th, 1859, the centennial anniversary of the 
birth of Robert Burns was celebrated under the auspices of 
the Burns Club, which has occasionally commemorated this 
day ever since 1832, by a supper, songs, speeches, etc. 

It was about the same time that Howard Camp of the order 
of the Sons of Malta was organized. About seven hundred 
men paid five dollars a-piece to be initiated into the mysteries 
of Maltaism, which was probably the most elaborate humbug 
ever started. 

On March 2nd, 1859, Plymouth Rock Lodge of the Ameri- 
can Protestant Association was instituted. It was the first 
branch of this order in Massachusetts. Another Lodge of the 
same order was instituted May 27th, 18G4, which took the 
name of Washington. 

On March 8th, 1859, Jane Ermina Locke, wife of John G. 
Locke, died at Ashburnham. Much of her life was passed in 
Lowell. Mrs. Locke was well known in literary circles. A 
volume of poetical waifs, an essay on pauperism in Massachu- 
setts, and numerous contributions, in prose and verse, to news- 
papers and periodicals, attested the fertility of her pen. 

On September 22nd, 1859, the two hundred and fifth anni- 
versary of the settlement of Chelmsford was signalized in that 
town by the dedication of a monument to the men of Chelms- 
ford who served in the Revolutionary War. 

About this time, there was no little agitation for a law 
correcting the abuse of proxy-voting in the meetings of stock- 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 157 

holders of manufacturing companies, and for a law compelling 
these companies to hold their annual meetings where their 
works were carried on, etc. In the first years of the Merri- 
mack Company, the annual meetings of the stockholders were 
held in Lowell. The dinners eaten on those occasions, at the 
Mansion House, and at the Stone House, were interesting inci- 
dents in the lives of those who had the great pleasure to be 
present. Such men as Daniel Webster and Jeremiah Mason 
attended, and treated the company to the richest feasts of post- 
prandial eloquence. 

In December, 1859, Robert B. Caverly, Captain of the City 
Gruards, caused Timothy Pearson, his Third Lieutenant, to be 
brought to trial at Salem for perjury. The indictment was 
supported by overwhelming evidence ; and nothing seemed more 
certain than that Pearson would be compelled to exchange his 
uniform as a Lieutenant of the Guards for the less picturesfjue 
costume of the State Prison. But 'just in the nick of time, 
Benjamin P. Butler, the defendant's counsel, discovered a flaw 
in the record, and Pearson escaped. Nearly three years later, 
the irrepressible Caverly broke out again on his former Lieu- 
tenant, and petitioned the Supreme Court to expel Pearson from 
the Bar, for fraud, perjury, malpractice and extortion. The 
animosity of Caverly continued unappeascd until Pearson paid 
him all his costs, and went away into the army. The victo- 
rious Captain then sat down, and tuning his triumphant song,, 
produced his poem of the Merrimack. 
14 



158 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



CHAPTEE X. 



POLITICAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Whigism Ib the ascendaut— Members of the General Court— Members of Con- 
gress — Edward Everett— Caleb Ciishmg— Degradatiou of local politics — 
A Lowell Caucus. 

The principles of the old AVhig party naturally took deep 
root in the minds of the Lowellians, whose industry was prom- 
ised "protection" in the event of a Whig ascendency. " Two 
dollars a day and roast beef" was to be the pay of every 
mechanic in the promised Whig millenium. At the first State 
election in which Lowell participated, in April, 1826, she gave 
Levi Lincoln ninety-five votes, and James Lloyd fifty-three. 
From that time down to the Coalition triumph in 1851, Lowell 
faltered in her devotion to the Whig party only in 1836 and 
1842, in each of which years she gave a majority for the Dem- 
ocratic gubernatorial nominee. In 1851, 1852 and 1853, she 
gave a plurality vote for the AVhig candidates of those years, 
Eobert C. Winthrop, John H. Cliff"ord and Emory W^ashburn. 
In 1854, she lurched into Know Nothingism, and gave her 
vote for Henry J. Gardner, whom she also indorsed in 1855 
and 1856. Since 1856 she has steadily supported the Eepiib- 
lican candidates — Nathaniel P. Banks, John A. Andrew and 
Alexander H. Bullock. 

No citizen of Lowell has ever been made Governor ; though 
two have been elected Lieutenant Governors — Elisha Hunting- 
ton in 1853, and John Nesmith in 1862. Three Executive 
Councillors have also been elected from Lowell — John Aiken 
in 1849, Homer Bartlett in 1854, and Josiah G. Peabody in 
1856. Thomas Talbot of Lowell and Billerica was a member 
of the Executive Council in 1865, 1866, 1867 and 1868. 

On May 8th, 1826, Lowell chose as her first Eepresentative 
in the General Court, Nathaniel Wright."^ Eight years later, 

*ror his successors in the House, see Appendix. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



159 



the same gentleman ibecame the first State Senator from Lowell. 
John P. Robinson was Senator in 1835, AVilliam Livingston 
in 1836 and 1837, Joseph W. Mansiir in 1840, Seth Ames in 
1841, Josiah G. Abbott in 1842 and 1843, Royal Southwick in 
1844 and 1845, Thomas Hopkinson in 1846, John A. Knowles 
in 1847, Tappan Wentworth in 1848 and 1849, John W. Graves 
in 1850 and 1851,- Ithamar W. Beard in 1852,t John A. But- 
trick in 1855 and 1856, Arthur P. Bonney and Joseph White 
in 1857. 

Prior to 1857, the State Senators were elected by the coun- 
ties on general tickets. By an amendment to the Constitution, 
they have since been chosen by districts. The Senators from 
the Lowell District have been Arthur P. Bonney in 1858 ; 
Benjamin F. Butler, 1859 ; Ephraim B. Patch, 1860; Arthur 
P. Bonney, 1861; Daniel S. Richardson, 1862; Samuel A. 
Brown, 1863 and 186 1; Tappan Wentworth, ]865 and 1866 ; 
Joshua N. Marshall, 1867; and Benjamin F. Clark, 1868. 
All of these gentlemen belonged to Lowell except the last, who 
is a Congregational clergyman in North Chelmsford. 

On March 7th, 1853, Josiah G. Abbott, John W. Graves, 
Shubael P. Adams, Benjamin F. Butler, Andrew T. Nute, 
James M. Moore, Abraham Tilton, James K. Fellows, and 
Peter Powers, (being the whole of the Coalition ticket except 
James J. Maguire, who, on account of his Irish birth and 
Roman faith, was defeated,) were elected Delegates to the 
Constitutional Convention, in opposition to Elisha Huntington, 
Benjamin F. French, Daniel S. Richardson, George H. Carle- 
ton, Homer Bartlett, Benjamin C. Sargeant, Uzziah C. Bur- 
nap, William North, Stephen Mansur and James H. B. Ayer, 
Whigs. 

On November 6th, 1826, Lowell participated for the first 
time in the election of a Representative in Congress. Twenty- 

*Dr. Graves Avas the only Lowell member of the Legislatixre of 1851, Avho 
voted for Charles Sumner, for United States Senator. 

t Benjamin Adams of Chelmsford was in the State Senate in 1853, and 
Peter Lawson of Dracut in 1851. 



160 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

two votes — all that were cast — were then given for Edward 
Everett, who ran successfully as an independent Workingmen's 
candidate against John Kejes, the candidate of the old County 
"ring." At the next election, November 3rd, 1828, Mr. Ev- 
erett, running as the Whig candidate, received two hundred 
and seventy-eight votes, and Leonard M. Parker ninety-five. 
At the election in 1830, Mr. Everett received two hundred 
votes, and his opponent, James Russell, fifty-one. Mr. Ever- 
ett remained in the House of Representatives till 1836, but 
by the re-arrangement of Congressional Districts under the 
Census of 1830, Lowell was detached from his District, and 
ceased to be represented by him. The subsequent career of 
Everett as Governor, President of Harvard University, Minis- 
ter to England, Secretary of State, and United States Senator, 
is a part of the history of the whole country. 

The second Representative in Congress was Gayton P. Os- 
good, an able lawyer, an old bachelor, and a Democrat, who 
remained in Congress one term only — from 1833 to 1835. He 
was the only Democratic Representative Lowell ever had in 
Congress. He was of Andover. 

In 1835, after a contest rarely equalled in the annals of 
party strife, Caleb Cushing was elected to Congress from the 
District including Lovrell. The Lowell Whigs held a meeting 
at midnight to exchange congratulations over his election. 
There is abundant evidence that the Whigs of the District 
felt it a great honor to be represented by such a man as Mr. 
Cushing, who was recognized as the equal of any man in the 
House, and who was never tired of serving even the humblest 
of his constituents in every proper way. Mr. Cushing con- 
tinued to represent the Lowell District till 1843. When the 
Whig State Convention, in 1842, under the dictation of Abbott 
Lawrence, passed their stupid resolution of "eternal separa- 
tion " from the Administration of John Tyler, Mr. Cushing, 
following the lead of Mr. Webster, refused to concur. There- 
upon, various hungry politicians, who were not worthy to black 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 161 

Mr. Cusliing's boots, combined to rob bim of tbe confidence of 
bis constituents by an active and unscrupulous use of the 
coward's favorite weapon — calumny. Weakened by these 
nefarious tactics, Mr. Gushing retired from Congress, and ac- 
cepted the mission to China. It has been common to sneer at 
Mr. Cushing as one who Tylerized. But as between Mr. Cush- 
ing and his adversaries in the controversy of 18-1:2, the calm 
verdict of history must clearly be given to him. His course 
throughout was in perfect harmony with his masterly address 
to his constituents, in September, 1841, in which he warned 
the Whigs against the folly into which they were then running 
under the Caucus-Dictatorship of Mr. Clay — the folly of com- 
mitting " suicide, in order to avoid the danger of dying a nat- 
ural death." Having elected Tyler, who was with them on 
most questions, though not wholly with them on all, he thought 
it the part of a practical Whig statesman to carry as many of 
his measures as he could under Tyler's Administration ; and 
he was right. Mr. Cushing saw clearly and declared frankly 
that to follow the petulant policy dictated by Clay, was to 
waste life in a vain chase after bubbles. Considering with 
what blind persistence this fatal policy was pursued, and with 
what disastrous results, it cannot be wondered that Mr. Cush- 
ing, with his broader statesmanship and catholicity of feeling, 
held himself aloof until his quondam friends had achieved 
their ruin ; and that afterward, when the old issues had be- 
come obsolete, and new issues had arisen, he sought a more 
congenial home in the Democratic party. Of his services as 
Colonel and Brigadier-General during the Mexican War, we 
shall not here speak. Nor is this the place to dwell on his 
subsequent career as Mayor of Newbury port, Eepresentative 
in the Legislature,'-'^ Judge of the Supreme Court, Attorney 

* During his long career in the Massachusetts Legislature, it is said, Mr. 
Cushing never received paj' for a single day when he was not in actual attend- 
ance. His unsehSshness in this contrasts strongly with the greediness of 
some Legislators of a later day. 

140 



162 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

General of the United States, President of the Charleston 
Convention of 18G0, Commissioner to codify the United States 
Statutes, etc. 

The successor of Mr. Cushing in Congress was Amos Ab- 
bott — a good, clever man, who had achieved distinguished 
success as keeper of a grocer's shop, at the cross-roads in 
Andover ; but utterly insignificant in Congress. He retained 
his seat six years. In 18-19, James H. Duncan of Haverhill,. 
Buccaedcd him and was re-elected for a second term. 

In 1852, the Congressional election was closely contested 
between Henry Wilson, Coalitionist, and Tappan Weivtworth 
!»3f Lowell, Whig. The tactics used to defeat Gen. Wilson had 
better not be scrutinized too closely. His defeat, however, 
was one of the most fortunate events in a life remarkably full 
of vicissitudes. Had he been elected to the House in 1852, 
he would hardly have been a candidate for the Senate in 1855 ; 
•and the chair then vacated by Edward Everett would probably 
have been filled by Marshall P. Wilder or Henry J. Gardner. 

Mr. Wentworth's successors have been Chauncey L. Knapp, 
from 1855 to 1859; Charles R. Train, from 1859 to 1803; 
and George S. Boutwell, from 1SG3 to 18G9. 

It may here be mentioned that, in 1866, Benjamin F. P>ut- 
ler of Lowell and Gloucester was elected to Congress from the 
District including the last named town. 

It must be confessed that Lowell has become a political 
Boeotia, — that her politics, her office-holders and her office- 
seekers are the opprobrium of the Commonwealth. She is 
cursed with miserable "bummers," of both parties, who, were 
they suddenly placed in the Common Council of New York, 
would have nothing to learn of political chicanery, but might 
be able to import some valuable suggestions to Fernando W^ood 
himself. There was a time when her position was quite other- 
wise, — when her citizens delighted in bringing into public life 
men of broad culture and of elevated character, — men who 
were not content with the small fame of mere place-holding, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 163 

but who trained their minds assiduously to the study of the 
higher politics. That she may yet recover her former good 
name, — that a nobler set of men may hereafter arise, — a set 
worthy to stand in the place of Bartlett, of Hopkinson, of 
Lawrence, and of Robinson, — is a matter rather of brave hope, 
than of confident expectation. 

The demoralization of our local politics began sometime 
prior to 1850, and was much accelerated by the Coalition of 
that tiaie ; but its grand impetus was derived from the Know 
Nothing movement of 1854, which suddenly changed all the 
loafers of the city, of native birth, into scheming politicians. 
To show how political meetings have been conducted in Lowell 

during the last dozen years, we present the following report 

prepared at the time for another purpose — of the proceedings 
of a Republican caucus which met in Jackson Hall, Septem- 
ber 29th, 1860, to choose delegates to the County, Councillor 
and Congressional District Conventions; the contest for the 
Congressional nomination being between Charles R. Train and 
George S. Boutwell : — 

Promptly at the appoiuted hour, Hubbard Willson ascended the platform, 
and (tailed for a nomination for the Chair. Several Train men instantly- 
responded "H. G. Blaisdell," while about twenty Boutwell men shouted 
" Charles Cowley," who was almost unanimously chosen Chairman, with G. 
A. Gerry as Secretary. On motion of Timothy Pearson (Boutwell), it was 
voted that a committee of five from each ward be chosen by noiniuation 
from the floor, to nominate twenty-six delegates to the Congressional Con- 
vention. During the appointment of this committee, Theodore H. Sweetser 
moved that the meeting adjourn to the several ward rooms, and that the 
delegates be chosen there. The Chair decided that this motion was not then 
in order. Mr. Sweetser appealed fi-om this decision to the meeting, and pro- 
ceeded to discuss his appeal. Mr. Pearson rose to a point of order,— that 
the appeal was not debatable. The Chair oveiTuled the point of ordei", and 
allowed JMr. Sweetser to proceed. Mr. Pearson then moved the previous 
question; but the Chair ruled that the previous question was not in order in 
a popular assembly. At the cloee of the debate, the Chair put the question, 
" Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the decision of the meeting," and 
appointed tellers to count the votes. The Chair was sustained— yeas 102; 
nays, 21. The committee was then filled— largely by Boutwell men. 

Another committee was chosen in the same manner to nominate dele- 
gates to the County and Councillor Conventions. As there was no great 
contest over this part of the business, this committee was the first to report, 



164: HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



and the report Avas adopted. Charles A. Stott offered a resolution endorsing 
the Congressional career of Mr. Train, which, heing explained as not in- 
tended to instrnct the delegates, was adopted. H. L. C. Newton stated that 
there were Democrats voting for the Train resolntion, and inquired who 
was to decide whether a man was a Democrat or a Kepuhlican. The Chair 
answered that every man must decide for himself, subject to the control of 
the meeting. 

The committee first chosen then reported, nominating John Wriglit, John 
Nesmith, C. L. Knapp, F. H. Nonrse, J. G. Peahody, John W. Smith, and 
twenty others, mostly Boutwell men, as the delegates to the Congressional 
Convention. Mr. Pearson moved the adoption of this report. Mr. Sweetser 
moved an amendment,— that the names be voted on singly. The objection 
was made that the amendment was not in order ; but this objection was over- 
ruled by the Chair. The amendment was lost — yeas, 97; nays, 113. 

Enraged at the prospect of their defeat, the Train men now resolved to 
protract the meeting by an adroit course of parliamentary "filibustering" 
until enough of their opponents had gone home to leave them in the ascend- 
ant. Seeing this, at about eleven o'clock, the Boutwell men made and carried 
amotion to adjourn. Then ensued a "bolt" ot the Train men— creating a 
division in the party which was not healed for seven years. Jonathan Ladd 
mounted the platform, and proposed that Linus Child be chosen Chairman. 
Mr. Child accordingly took the Chair, and tAventy-six more delegates were 
chosen, all friends of Mr. Train. 

Why so much importance was attached to the choice of the Lowell dele- 
gation, was, that the other delegates were so closely divided between Train 
and Boutwell that he who secured the Lowell delegation was sure of the 
nomination, which was eqiiivalent to an election. Now that the seats of the 
Lowell delegates were contested, everything depended on getting a majority 
of the delegates from the towns. To aid them in this, the Train men subsi- 
dized several influential newspapers, and called a mass meeting in Himtington 
Hall, to denoimce the Boutwell men for doing precisely what they had done 
themselves. Had a majority of the delegates outside of Lowell been Iriendly 
to Mr. Boutwell, the delegates of the bolters would have been excluded from 
the Convention. But the Train men having obtained a majority of the dele- 
gates outside of Lowell, they were enabled to secure the admission of the 
bolting delegates on the same footing as those regularly chosen. 

Thus, it was largely througli the Lowell caucus that Mr. 
Train secured his seat in Congress for his second term, — that 
Georo'e S. Boutwell became Commissioner of Internal Ee venue, 
— that John S. Keyes obtained the United States Marshalship 
and a fortune, — that John A. Goodwin was made Postmaster 
of Lowell, and Jonathan Ladd Paymaster of Volunteers. Nor 
were these all or half the consequences, personal and politi- 
cal, of the meeting, the doings of which we have now recorded. 
No caucus ever held in Lowell, — not the Whig caucus of 1852, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 165 

which was packed and controlled so skillfully bj Tappan Weut- 
worth, — nor the Union caucus of 1862, which had two Chair- 
men, and was about to choose a third, when the gas was turned 
off by the police, — has been more prolific of results than the 
Republican Congressional caucus of 1860. 



CHAPTER XL 

MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Town— Selectmen— Clerks — Treasurers — City — Mayors— Treasurers— Mar- 
shals — Auditors — Chief Engineers— Physicians — Solicitors— Presidents of 
tlie Common Council— Election Troubles — Origin of Municipal Govern- 
ment. 

Lowell is not a municipality, in the older and better sense of 
that word. Our population, — various in origin, heterogeneous 
in character, thrown together by chance, constantly distributing 
itself hither and thither, with nothing about it permanent ex- 
cept its changeability, — is, and always has been, grossly want- 
ing in the municipal spirit. It would be easy to name many, 
of the living and of the dead, who were proud of Lowell, and 
who strove, with fond solicitude, to make her worthy of their 
pride. But the Lowellians generally have no such feeling. 
The genius loci is not in them. 

This want of the municipal spirit has manifested itself in 
various ways — in business, in politics, and especially in the 
low character of too many of the men whom the caprices of 
the people, or the chance-medley of the caucus, has again and 
again invested with public functions. Under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, time would gradually develop this minor form of 
patriotism. But it has not done so here. We have gone 



166 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

backward rather than forward. In the first years of Lowell, 
three-fourths of the men placed in public authority, were 
among the best men living here. But none will pretend that 
such has been the fact during the last twenty years. 

John Stuart Mill observes that "the greatest imperfection 
of popular local institutions and the chief cause of the failure 
which so often attends them, is the low calibre of the men by 
whom they are carried on." 

The municipal existence of Lowell began, March 1st, 1826, 
the date of Governor Lincoln's approval of the act incorporat- 
ing her as a town. She continued a town during ten years. 
Her eleven boards of selectmen were as follows : 

182G— Nathaniel Wright, Samuel Batchekler, O. M. Whipple. 

1827— Nathaniel Wright, Joshua Swan, Henry Coburn, Jr. 

1828 — Nathaniel Wright, Joshua Swan, Artemas Young. 

1829 — Nathaniel Wright, Joshua Swan, Artemas Young, 

1830— Joshua Swan, Artemas Young, James Tyler. 

1831 — Joshua Swan, Artemas Yoitng, James Tyler. 

1832 — Joshua Swan, Matthias Parkhurst, Josiah Crosby, Benjamin Walker, 
S. C. OUver. 

1&33— Joshua Swan, Matthias Parkhurst, Benjamin Wallier, Elisha Hun- 
tington, S. C. Oliver. 

1831 — Joshua Swan, Elisha Huntington, William Livingston, Jesse Fox, 
Benjamin Walker. 

1835— Benjamin Walker, James Eussell, William Livingston, John Chase, 
William N. Owen. 

1836 — Benjamin Walker, James Russell, William Livingston, John Chase, 
William N. Owen. 

Samuel A. Coburn was Town Clerk from the beginning, and 
continued in office two years after the adoption of the City 
Charter. He was succeeded in 1838 by Thomas Ordway, who 
held his office sixteen years. In 1854, William Lamson, Jr., 
became City Clerk; and in 1858 he was succeeded by John 
H. McAlvin, the present incumbent. 

The office of Town Treasurer was filled by Artemas Holden 
from the incorporation of the town to the adoption of the City 
Charter. 

The office of Town Tax Collector, created in 1828, was filled 
in 1828 by Luther Marshall ; in 1829 by Josiah B. French ; in 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 167 

1830 by James Kussell ; in 1831 by William Lamb; in 1832 
and 1833 by Isaac Bancroft; in 1834 by Joseph Tyler and 
Abner W. Buttrick, the last of whom was also Tax Collector 
in 1835. 

The Act to establish the City of Lowell was approved by 
Governor Everett, April 1st, 1836. The canvass preceeding 
the first City election was an exciting one. The Whig and 
Democratic parties were nearly equally balanced, and party 
feeling was at fever heat. Each party was desirous of the 
honor of inaugurating the young municipality. Each party 
nominated its most available candidate. The Whigs con- 
centrated their strength on Elisha Bartlett : — the Democracy 
nominated Eliphalet Case. The Whigs triumphed. Dr. Bart- 
lett received nine hundred and fifty-eight votes; Mr. Case, 
eight hundred and sixty-eight ; Oliver M. Whipple, seventeen ; 
John Dummer, two. Dr. Bartlett was inaugurated as Mayor, 
and was re-elected in 1837. He was highly popular as Mayor; 
but on the expiration of his second term, he positively ''de- 
clined all further service in this line." 

The successor of Dr. Bartlett was Luther Lawrence, who 
was re-elected in 1839, and whose tragic death has already 
been recorded. The vacancy created by the death of Mr. Law- 
rence, was filled by the City Council by the election of Elisha 
Huntington, who was re-elected by the people in 1840 and 
1841. Nathaniel Wright was elected Mayor in 1842, on the 
first "Citizens'" ticket that was run in Lowell. In 1843, he 
was re-elected on the Whig ticket. In 1844 and 1845, Dr. 
Huntington, who had been beaten by Mr. Wright in 1842, was 
again Mayor, and was succeeded in 1846 by Jefferson Bancroft. 
By an amendment to the City Charter, the time of the muni- 
cipal election was now changed from the first Monday of March 
to the second Monday of December, annually. The commence- 
ment of the municipal year was also changed from the first 
Monday of April to the first Monday in January. Mr. Ban- 
croft was re-elected Mayor in 1847 and 1848. In 1849 the 



168 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Whigs were again ousted, and Josiah B. Frencli, Coalitionist, 
became Mayor. He was re-elected in 1850. During the next 
four years, the Whigs were successful, and elected J. H. B. 
Aycr in 1851, Dr. Huntington in 1852, and Sawall G. Mack 
in 1858 and 1854. The Know Nothing spasm of 1854 made 
Ambrose Lawrence Mayor in 1855. A Citizens' ticket re- 
stored Dr. Huntington to the chair that he loved so well in 
185G, but broke down under him at the next election ; and in 
1857 Stephen Mansur became the first Eepublican Mayor. 
He was a good man, and made an honest effort to execute the 
laws for the suppression of the rum trafiic, but was dropped 
at the next election, when, by a Citizens' movement, Dr. Hun- 
tington, for the eighth and last time, was re-elected to the 
executive chair. During the three following years the Ee- 
publicans were successful : James Cook was Mayor in 1859, 
and Benjamin C. Sargeant in 1860 and 1861. Hocum Hosford 
succeeded in 1862- and 1863 on "Citizens'" tickets, and in 
1864, without opposition, on a Eepublican ticket. Josiah G-. 
Peabody became Mayor in 1865 and 1866, and was succeeded 
by George F. Richardson in 1867 and 186S.f 

The first City Treasurer was William Davidson, and the 
first City Collector of Taxes, Bryan Morse, through whom the 
City lost ^10,000 of its funds.| In 1837, the duties of Tax 
Collector were superadded to those of Treasurer. These ofiices 
have been filled by the following gentlemen — William David- 
son from 1837 to 1842; John A. Buttrick from 1843 to 1846; 
Ithamar A. Beard from 1847 to 1850 ; John F. Kimball from 
1851 to 1855; Isaac C. Eastman from 1856 to 1860; and 
George W. Bedlow from 1861 to 1864, when he resigned and 
was succeeded by Thomas G. Gerrish. 

* At the election of Mayor in 1831, Dr, John W. Graves, Mr. Hosford's 
opponent, probably received a majority of the votes, but a fraud or mistake 
in counting the votes in Ward Five turned the scale against him. 

jThe Boards of Aldermen and Common Councilmen are republished 
annually in the Municipal Register, and are therefore omitted here. 

J 7 Metcalf, p. 152. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 169 

The City Marshals have been — Zaccheus Shed in 1836 and 
1837 ; Henry T. Mowatt in 1838 ; Joseph Butterfield in 1839 ; 
Zaccheus Shedd in 1840 and 1841 ; Charles J. Adams from 
1842 to 1847 ; Zaccheus Shedd in 1848 ;. George P. Waldron 
in 1849, and Zaccheus Shedd in 1850, Charles J. Adams 
came in again in 1851, but afterward resigned, and James H. 
Corrin succeeded him. From 1852 to 1854 Edwin L. Shed 
was City Marshal ; in 1855, Samuel Miller; in 1856, Wil- 
liam H. Clemence; in 1857, Eben H. Eand; in 1858, William 
H. Clemence; in 1859, Eben H. Rand; in 1860 and 1861, 
Frederick Lovejoy, to whom in 1862 succeeded Bickford Lang. 

The City Auditors have been — John Nesmith, 1836; Joseph 
AV. Mansur, 1837; Horatio G. F. Corliss, 1838; John G. 
Locke, from 1840 to 1848 ; George A. Butterfield in 1849 and 

1850 ; William Lamson, Junior, from 1851 to 1853 ; Leonard 
Brown, 1854 and 1855; James J. Maguire, 1856; Henry A. 
Lord, 1857, and since 1857, George Gardner. 

The Chief Engineers have been — Charles L. Tilden, 1836 
and 1837; Jonathan M. Marston, 1838; William Fiske, 1839; 
Josiah B. French from 1840 to 1842 ; Jonathan M. Marston, 
1843; Jefferson Bancroft, 1844 and 1845; Aaron H. Sherman 
from 1846 to 1849; Horace Howard from 1850 to 1852; 
Lewis A. Cutler, 1853 ; Weare Clifford, from 1854 to 1859 ; 
Asahel D. Puffer, from 1860 to 1862; Joseph Tilton, 1863 
and 1864; Weare Clifford, 1865 and 1866; and George W^ 
Waymoth, 1867 and 1868. 

The sick poor of Lowell have had for their medical advisers 
the following City Physicians — Charles P. Coffin, from 1836 
to 1839 ; Elisha Bartlett, 1840 and 1841 ; Abraham D. Dear- 
born, 1842 and 1843; David Wells, from 1844 to 1846^. 
Abner H. Brown, from 1847 to 1850; Joel Spaulding, from 

1851 to 1855; Luther B. Morse, 1856 and 1857; John W. 
Graves from 1858 to 1860 ; Moses W. Kidder, from 1861 to 
1863; :N'athan Allen, 1864 and 1865 ; and George E. Pink- 
ham, 1866, 1867 and 1868. 

15 



170 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The Law Department was not established till 1840, when 
Thomas Hopkinson was chosen City Solicitor. His successors 
have been — John A. Knowles, 1841 ; Eichard G. Colby, 1842; 
Seth Ames from 1843 to 1849 ; Isaac S. Morse, from 1850 to 
1852; Theodore H. Sweetser, 1853 and 1854; Arthur P. 
Bonney, 1855; Alpheus R. Brown, 1856; Robert B. Caverly, 
1857; Alpheus E. Brown, 1858; Theodore H. Sweetser, from 
1859 to 1861 ; Alpheus E. Brown, 1862 and 1863 ; Tappan 
Wentworth, from 1864 to 1866; and George Stevens, 1867 
and 1868. 

The fallowing named gentlemen have been Presidents of the 
Common Council, most of them more than once — John Clark, 
Elisha Huntington, Thomas Hopkinson, Pelham W. Warren, 
Tappan Wentworth, Joseph W. Mansur, Oliver March, Daniel 
S. Richardson, Joel Adams, John Aiken, Ivors Taylor, George 
Gardner, Benjamin C. Sargeant, William A. Richardson, Al- 
fred Gilman, Frederick Holton, William P. Webster, William 
F. Salmon, William L. North, George F. Richardson, George 
Ripley, Gustavus A. Gerry, and Alfred H. Chase. 

In February, 1852, Mayor Ayer and his Aldermen were 
indicted by the Grand Jury "for a neglect of official duty." 
At the State election of 1851, the number of votes cast in 
Ward Four was 811 ; but, through a glaring blunder, the 
number returned was 8,038. But no fraud being intended, 
the defendants were not convicted/-' The case was one of 
those, far too numerous, in which the inquisitorial powers of 
grand juries have been meanly used as the instruments of 
personal and political rivalry and rancor. 

The incidents of our municipal history, that possess general 
interest, are few. Consequently this chapter is largely devoted 
to the successions of local officials. To some, such details 
will appear trivial. Nevertheless, 

" These little things are great to little man." 

Writers of a certain class speak continually of our modern 
forms of municipal government as having originated among 

*Cushing's Contested Elections, pp. 639-674. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 171 

the Teutonic tribes of ancient central Europe. But those who 
have most carefully studied the history of republican and im- 
perial Home, know that these municipal institutions originated, 
not with the barbarous tribes of Germany, but with those mas- 
ters of the ancient world — the Eomans. For the purpose of 
promoting union and uniformity between the victors and the 
vanquished, and perhaps also from a love of methodicity, the 
Eomans established in the cities of all the provinces which 
owned their sway, municipal institutions identical with those 
of the great mother-city, Eome. The forms thus established 
have continued in Europe until now ; and it is a remarkable 
proof of the wisdom of the Eomans, that when the great towns 
of the Xew World found it desirable to perfect their munici- 
pal institutions, they could devise no better forms than those 
instituted on the Tiber so many centuries ago. 

In every city of that world-empire were two executive mag- 
istrates called Duumviri, answering to the Consuls at Eome. 
In lieu of the Senate, there was a body of Decarions, (so 
called because, originally, every tenth man belonged to it,) 
answering to our modern Aldermen, as the Decuries answered 
to Wards. The Duumviri were subsequently called Provosts 
or Bailiffs, and, at a still later day. Mayors ; though some, 
perhaps, may say that the Mayor corresponds more nearly with 
the Princeps Senatus, or President of the Senate. Two changes 
— some may call them improvements — have been introduced : 
the executive functions have been vested in one officer, instead 
of two ; while the legislative body has been divided into two 
branches, instead of sitting as one, as was the custom in Eome. 
Thus, the same municipal forms under which our ancestors 
lived in the times of the Csesers, have outlived the dissolution 
of civilization in the ancient world, and, crossing the middle 
ages and the Atlantic, have come down to us. 



172 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

CHAPTER XII. 

LOWELL DURING THE REBELLION. 

Gen. Whiting— F. G. Fontane— Gen. Butler— Capt. Fox— Fort Sumter— 
Tiie Sixth— Riot in Baltimore— Ladd and Whitney— Hill Cadets— Rich- 
ardson Infantry— Abbott Greys— Butler Rifles— Soldiers' Aid Association 
—The Twenty-Sixth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-Third— Lowell Officers Killed 
—The Conscription— Fitteenth Battery— Sanitary Fair— State Aid— Boun- 
ties — Summaries, etc. 

In opening the record of the part borne by our people in 
the war for the suppression of the Rebellion, it is but fair to 
say, that some of the adherents of "the Lost Cause" were 
also, in early life, identified with Lowell. Several of these 
became quite famous : for the fame of a career is often wholly 
independent of its intrinsic merit. 

" The aspiring youth who fired the Ephesiau dome, 
Outlives in fame the pious fool who raised it." 

Major-General Robert E. K. Whiting, one of the most scien- 
tific, yet one of the most unfortunate of the Confederate chiefs, 
spent no inconsiderable portion of his boyhood in Lowell, and 
from 1845 to 1847 &lood well as a pupil in the High School. 

Mightier than the sword of Whiting was the pen of E. G. 
Fontane, one of the ablest of that junta of journalists whose 
passionate editorial appeals contributed so much to *' fire the 
Southern heart," and precipitate the bloody struggle. He, too, 
passed much of his boyhood here, and wrote juvenile "compo- 
sitions" in the High School, little dreaming how many spirited 
battle-scenes he would one day sketch over his famous nome de 
guerre of " Pevsonne. "=•'•'= 

The disruption of the Democratic National Convention of 
1860, contributed directly and powerfully to that volume of 
influences the result of which was — War. Not the least among 
those who participated in that work of disruption was Ben- 

* His father prepared " the Balm of a Thousand Flowers." 




BKNJAMIN F. BUTLEU. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 173 

jamin F. Butler, who, born on Guy Tawkes' Day, has a congen- 
ital 'penchant for plots and conspiracies. What Dry den said 
of Shaftesbury, will apply to him : — 

" For close designs and crooked counsels fit, 
Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit. . . . 
A daring pilot in extremity. 
Pleased with the danger when the waves ran high." 

He was born at Deerfield in iS"ew Hampshire, November 5th, 
1818. In early infancy, he lost his father, a bold privateer, 
who scoured the Spanish main under the Columbian (or some 
other) flag. In 1828, his mother removed to Lowell, and 
placed Benjamin under that faithful "knight of the birch," 
Joshua Merrill, in what is now the Edson School. Graduat- 
ing at AYaterville in 1838, he made a short fishing voyage to 
the coast of Labrador. Cured of his boyish passion for the 
sea, he then returned to Lowell, studied law in the office of 
William Smith, and in September, 1840, was admitted to the 
Bar. His career as a Democratic politician began synchroni- 
ously with his appearance in the Lowell Police Court, and cul- 
minated in the Charleston Convention, where, after a persistent 
struggle of twenty years, he first acquired national notoriety. 
He sat for one term in either branch of the State Legislature, 
and also in the Constitutional Convention of 1853. But his 
reputation was acquired chiefly in the courts of law, and in 
the caucuses of the Democracy. 

Chosen a Delegate to the National Democratic Convention, in 
1860, by a Douglas constituency, he set his Constituents at de- 
fiance, and voted fifty-seven times for Jefi'erspn Davis. When 
the Convention was rent in twain, he attached himself to the 
Southern wing of it, and flung out the banner of Breckenridge 
and Lane. On July 26th, 1860, at a Democratic meeting in 
Huntington Hall, he attempted to defend his conduct. No 
sooner had he been introduced than he was met by a storm of 
hisses, groans and yells, such as have seldom been heard out- 
side of Pandemonium. At every pause in the tempest, Butler 
15^> 



174 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

renewed his efforts to speak ; but every such attempt was in- 
stantly balked by a renewal of the storm in all its pristine 
fury. Three-quarters of an hour were thus passed ; but the 
sea of angry faces remained, and the tornado of hisses, groans 
and yells, continued unabated. Kealizing the impossibility of 
getting a hearing at that time, and overcome by the violence 
of his own emotions, Butler beat an abrupt retreat to the ante- 
room, leaving his enemies to enjoy their triumph. Thus the 
Democrats snubbed their recreant chief. Thus Lowell disowned 
her foremost son. 

Another meeting was afterward held, when Butler obtained 
a hearing ; and never did the resources of his genius appear 
more inexhaustible than in the able and ingenius but specious 
and sophistical defence which he then put in. A man of such 
immense vitality as Butler can never be put down in this coun- 
try without his own consent. The same man whom we have 
here seen " corked up " in Huntington Hall, and driven into 
the ante-room in a paroxysm of grief and mortification, will 
turn up again in this chapter, to be honorecTwith a public re- 
ception after the style of Jackson, Kossuth and Sheridan. 

On the ninth of January, 1861, the steamer Star of the 
West crossed the bar of Charleston with supplies for the Fed- 
eral garrison at Tort Sumter. She was fired upon by the South 
Carolinians, and driven off. This was the true beginning of 
the war ; though for three months afterward, the country slept 
on in the delusive belief that it was still at peace. During 
those three months, the great question was, How to relieve 
the garrison of Fort Sumter ? To many minds the question 
presented insoluble difficulties. Lowell, however, had sent 
forth a man, to whose hard, practical mind this question pre- 
sented no difficulty at all— Gustavus Yassa Fox. 

He was born in Saugus, June 13th, 1821. In December, 
1823, his father, Dr. Jesse Fox, removed to Lowell, and here 
Gustavus remained until June, 1838, when, through the influ- 
ence of Caleb Cushing, he was appointed a Midshipman in the 



HISTORY OF LOWELL 175 

Navy. Naval promotions in those days were slow, and it was 
not until 1852 that Fox rose to the rank of Lieutenant. He 
was one of the first of our naval officers who comprehended 
the great changes that were to follow the introduction of steam 
into the Navy, and obtained "leaves of absence" in order to 
gain experience in steam navigation. While " on leave " he 
served as mate to Captain Cumstock on board the Baltic. He 
was subsequently Captain, first of the Ohio, and afterward of 
the Greorge Law, plying between New York and Panama. In 
1855, he resigned his commission, and became Agent of the 
Bay State Mills at Lawrence. 

Immediately after the return of the Star of the AYest to 
New York, in January, 1861, Captain Fox repaired to Wash- 
ington, and submitted to General Scott, Secretary Holt and 
President Buchanan, a plan of his own for the relief of Fort 
Sumter. His plan was, to anchor three small men-of-war off 
the harbor- of Charleston, four miles from the Fort, as his base 
of operations ; and then to send three steam-tugs and a full 
complement of armed launches, manned by three hundred extra 
sailors, to carry the troops and stores to the Fort, running the 
batteries on Sullivan's and Morris's Islands. Scott and Holt 
approved the plan ; but the vacillating counsels which prevailed 
at Washington during the last three months of Buchanan and 
the first six weeks of Lincoln, prevented its adoption until it 
was too late. It was not until the sixth of April that Captain 
Fox left New York with a part of the proposed expedition, 
the whole of which might have sailed as early as the preceed- 
ing January. Rough weather then came on, and he only ar- 
rived off Charleston in time to witness the bombardment of 
Fort Sumter, and to bring back with him Major Anderson and 
his command, after the surrender of the Fort to General Beau- 
regard. The failure of this daring enterprize involved no loss 
of confidence in Captain Fox on the part of President Lincoln, 
who soon afterward made him Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 



176 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The fall of Fort Sumter produced a tremendous sensation in 
Lowell. The shock was common to the whole country. On 
the fifteenth of April, President Lincoln called upon Governor 
Andrew for two regiments of Militia. On the next day, he 
enlarged the call to a brigade of four regiments, which was 
assigned by the Grovernor to the command of Brigadier- General 
Butler. Immediately on the receipt of the first call, (April 
15th,) Governor Andrew ordered Colonel Edward F. Jones, 
of the Sixth Kegiment, to muster his command forthwith on 
Boston Common. 

"Four companies of this regiment belonged to Lowell, viz. : 

Company C, (Mechanic Phalanx,) Captain Albert S. Follansbee. 

Company D, (City Guards,) Captain James W. Hart. 

Company H, (Watson Light Guard,) Captain John F. Noj es. 

Company A, (originally LaAvrence Cadets, subsequently National Greys,) 
Captain Josiah A. Sawtell, who, on his promotion to the Majoritj", May 18th, 
was succeeded by Captain George M. Dickerman*. 

On the next morning, (April 16th,) these four companies, 
with two companies from Lawrence, one from Groton and one 
from Acton, of the same regiment, were mustered in Hunting- 
ton Hall, where stimulating speeches were made to them, and 
prayers offered to the God of Battles for their success. 

It was a cold, stormy and most dismal day, when, amid the 
prayers and cheers and tears of the people, the cars bore the 
Sixth Kegiment toward Boston. In Faneuil Hall, they were 
joined by the other three companies attached to the Sixth, 
from Stoneham, Worcester and Boston. 

After the departure of the Eegiment, the City Council ap- 
propriated eight thousand dollars for the benefit of the families 
of these and other Lowell soldiers. 

The progress of the Sixth through Worcester in the evening 
of the seventeenth, through New York City, through the State 
of New Jersey, and through Philadelphia, on the eighteenth, 
was a series of grand ovations, especially at Philadelphia. 

*For the rosters of these companies, see Chaplain Hanson's History of 
the Old Sixth Regiment. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 177 

On tlie nineteenth, thej reached Baltimore, and seven of 
the eleven companies crossed the city to the Washington De- 
pot, unresisted. The track over which they had passed in cars 
drawn by horses, was then barricaded by the '* roughs" of the 
city, leaving the regimental band and four companies behind, 
compelled to march on foot to the Washington Depot. The 
companies were C, of Lowell, Capt. Follansbee ; D, of Lowell, 
Captain Hart ; I, of Lawrence, Captain Pickering ; and L, of 
Stoneham, Capt. Dike. Capt. FoUansbee, as senior Captain, 
commanded the detachment, which numbered about two hun- 
dred and twenty men. 

In their progress through Baltimore, these companies received 
all sorts of indignities from the mob, whose yells, oaths and 
execrations filled the air. In Pratt street, missiles were thrown 
and firearms discharged at the advancing column, and Capt. 
FoUansbee ordered his men to fire at will. These demonstra- 
tions continued on both sides till the detachment rejoined their 
comrades at the Washington Depot, and the train started which 
bore them to the Capital. 

How many of the rioters fell has never been ascertained. 
Some place the number at a hundred. The first man wounded 
on our side was George A. Wilson, of the regimental band. 
Fourteen others were also wounded during this riot, and four 
killed, — Addison 0. Whitney, Luther C. Ladd, and Charles A. 
Taylor, all of the Lowell City G-uards ; and Sumner H. Need- 
ham, of the Lawrence Light Infantry. Whitney was twenty- 
two years of age, and a native of Maine ; Ladd was a boy of 
seventeen summers, a native of New Hampshire ; Needham be- 
longed to Lawrence, and Taylor, probably, to Boston. 

The news of this affair, often magnified into a battle, pro- 
duced a profound sensation throughout the North. As the 
first bloody scene in the great tragedy of the Eebellion, the 
Baltimore riot of 18G1 will not be forgotten as long as any- 
thing in American history is preserved. 



178 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

The remains of Ladd and Whitney were brought to Lowell, 
on the sixth of May, 1861, and buried in the Lowell Cemetery 
with imposing ceremonies: — 

" Such honors as in Illium once wei-e paid 
When peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade," 

Four years later, their bodies were removed to Monument 
Square. There, beneath the Monument which bears their 
names, they now rest ; and there they shall remain "till a 
clarion louder than that which marshaled them to the combat 
shall awake their slumbers." 

On reaching Washington, the Sixth was welcomed by the 
friends of the Union with inexpressible joy. The soldiers 
were quartered in the Senate Chamber, and remained there 
till the fifth of May, when they were removed to the Eelay 
House, ten miles from Baltimore. There they formed a part 
of the command of Brigadier-General Butler, Department of 
Annapolis. They remained at the Eelay House, protecting 
the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, — with the exception 
of two short visits to Baltimore, — until the close of their term 
of service. They returned to Lowell, August 2nd, and were 
honored with a public reception on the South Common. 

On the day succeeding the affair at Baltimore, two new 
companies were formed in Lowell — the Hill Cadets, afterward 
Company D, of the Sixteenth Infantry, Captain Patrick S. 
Proctor ; and the Richardson Light Infantry, afterward the 
Seventh Battery, Captain Phineas A. Davis. The Hill Cadets 
— the first company organized in Lowell during the Rebellion 
— were principally men who had belonged to the Jackson Mus- 
keteers,- — who had been deprived of their arms by the Know 
Nothing Governor Gardner, — and who had been calumniated, 
even as late as the preceding January, as being ready to take 
part with South Carolina against their own adopted Common- 
wealth. It was not until they received the shock of a bloody 
civil war, that the native and the foreign born began alike to 




• Nothing is here for grief, nothing for tears, nothing to wail 
And knock the breast, no weakness, no contempt, 
Dispraise or blame, but well and fair, 
And what may quiet us in a death so noble." 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 179 

feel that, in spite of all tlieir little differences, they were all 
Americans at heart — loving their country with a warm and 
equal love, and ready to peril all in her defence. 

On April 22nd, a third company was started by Edward 
Gardner Abbott. Men rushed to his recruiting office, and in 
three days his company was full — his father, Judge Abbott, 
pouring out money with an unsparing hand, to supply every 
real ,or imaginary want of the men. This company was 
organized April 25th, and took the name of the Abbott Greys. 
It was incorporated with the Second Infantry, and on May 
24th, Abbott was commissioned as its Captain. Few, if any, 
volunteer officers were commissioned for three years' service 
earlier than Captain Abbott. 

On May 1st, Eben James and Thomas O'Hare organized the 
Butler Eifles, afterward Company G, of the Sixteenth Infantry. 

While the younger men of Lowell were filling the rosters of 
these and other companies for service in the field, the older 
men, together with the women, irrespective of age, were serv- 
ing the common cause by contributions of money, clothing, 
provisiojis, books and everything else that could enhance the 
comfort of the soldier. With the view to systematize this 
patriotic and charitable ministry. Judge Crosby called a pub- 
lic meeting, April 20th, when the Soldier's Aid Association 
was formed — the first of the kind in the United States — germ 
of the Sanitary Commission, and germ of the Christian Com- 
mission. Judge Crosby was its President ; M. C. Bryant, Sec- 
retary ; and Samuel W. Stickney, Treasurer. The ladies and 
gentlemen who participated in this ministry represented every 
social circle and every religious society in Lowell. 

It has been the standing reproach of Protestant communities, 
that they have no such sisterhoods as those through whose be- 
neficent labors the Roman church is so much endeared even to 
the humblest of her children ; — no societies of ''the brides of 
God," who, for the love of Mary, renounce the world, and con- 
secrate their lives to the divine ministry of charity. But great 



180 HISTOKY OF LOWELL. 

as is tlie debt due to orders like these, a ten-fold greater debt 
is due to the thousand soldier's aid societies that sprung up 
all over the North during the late AYar, to supply food for the 
hungry, clothing for the naked, instruction and amusement in 
health, tender care in sickness, litanies for the dying, requiems 
for the dead. And of all these societies this Lowell associa- 
tion was the precursor and pioneer. 

In August, the Twenty- Sixth Regiment was organized and 
went into camp at Cambridge, whence, three weeks later, it 
was removed to Camp Chase, at Lowell. Here it remained 
till late in November, when it formed part of the expedition 
to Ship Island, in the Department of the Gulf. In the follow- 
ing December, the Thirtieth Regiment was organized at Camp 
Chase, under General Butler, who accompanied it to Ship Is- 
land. Three companies of the Twenty-Sixth, A, D, and H, and 
three of the Thirtieth, B, C and F, were composed of Lowell 
men. Nor were Lowell men confined to these companies alone, 
but were found, sometimes in considerable numbers, in many 
other organizations. 

On September 5th, Gen. Butler returned to Lowell after the 
affair at Hatteras Inlet, and the people gave him a receptior 
which contrasted strongly with that of the preceding summer. 
It was like the passage from the scaffold to the throne. Be- 
tween these two receptions, the General had revised his political 
opinions, passing with characteristic agility from the extreme 
Southern to the extreme Northern side. The occupation of 
Hatteras Inlet was an event wholly insignificant in itself. But 
it 'served to relieve the gloom which filled the general mind 
after the defeats of Big Bethel and Bull Run. He was re- 
ceived at the Northern Depot by a committee of the citizens 
and escorted by the four companies of the Sixth Regiment, 
and an independent company — the Wamesit Rifles — together 
with a civic escort, to the Merrimack House, where he received 
an address of welcome from Mayor Sargeant, to which he re- 
plied at some length. The procession was then re formed, and 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 181 

escorted him to his home by the bowlder-bottomed Merri- 
mack. 

Early in 1862, the Sixth and Seventh Batteries were organ- 
ized. Both were composed chiefly of Lowell men. 

On April 3rd, 1862, Surgeon Ebenezer K. Sanborn, of the 
Thirty-Eirst Infantry, died of typhomania at Ship Island. 
Dr. Sanborn was born in Hill, New Hampshire, January 24th, 
1828. His professional education was acquired with his uncle, 
Dr. Gilman Kimball, at Lowell, and with Dr. C. H. Stedman 
at Boston. He was a most successful surgeon, and an indefat- 
igable student of his profession, in which he stood among the 
most eminent of his age. He achieved great success as a lec- 
turer, and filled professorial chairs at Woodstock, Castleton, 
and Pittsfield. He left a widow, daughter of John Avery, 
and three children. =" 

On July 1st, 1862, President Lincoln issued a new call for 
300,000 volunteers. Among the regiments organized in re- 
sponse to this call, was the Thirty-Third Infantry, of which 
companies A, F and Gr, with a portion of companies C and H, 
were from Lowell. 

The President having on August 4th, 1862, issued a call for 
troops for nine months' service, the Sixth Ecgiment was among 
the first to respond. On September 9th, it left Lowell for 
Boston, and proceeded to Suffolk, Virginia. It remained in 
the vicinity of Suffolk during its entire period of service, per- 
forming necessary and useful duty, but taking part in no great 
battle — its only encounters with the enemy being some insig- 
nificant engagements on the Blackwater. Other nine-months' 
regiments drew on Lowell for recruits, especially the Forty- 
Eighth, which was stationed at Baton Eouge. 

At the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9th, 1862, fell 
Brevet Major Edward O. Abbott, Captain of Company A, of 
the Second Infantry, with seven of his men. He was born in 
Lowell, September 29th, 1840, and was less than twenty-one 

* Memorial of Sanborn by Samuel Burnham; Communications of Mass. 
Medical Society, 18G3. 
IG 



182 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

years of age when, in the feverish rapture of battle, he passed 
to those " temples not made with hands." Graduating at Har- 
vard in 1860, he entered the law office of Samuel A. Brown, 
where he remained until the fall of Sumter signalized the con- 
flict, of which he was not to see the end. Passing at once 
from the profession of law to the profession of arms, his ardor 
and assiduity were only increased by the change. 

In everything he sought thoroughness, and would not be content with 
half-knowing auythiug. Had he lived to complete the supersti'ucture of 
which he had laid the foundations, he was sure to have attained the summits 
of his profession. To this he aspired with the ardent longing of a strong, 
whole-souled, generous nature. Nor did he dream of failure. 

" In. the bright Lexicon of youth, 
There's no such word as fail." 

He had a sense of honor worthy of the best days of chivalry. Perfect 
truthfulness characterized all his word and acts. " He dared to do right; he 
dared to be true ; " he would not be such a coward as to be. At the age of 
twenty, he had the intellectual maturity of a man of thirty. His native vigor 
of intellect was great, and his judgment remarkably sound. He was a born 
commander — cool, intrepid, self-reliant, indomitable— and took to the lead- 
ership of affairs as naturally as an eagle to the air. 

The battle was drawing to a close when he fell; and during the fight, 
says General Andrews, (who was his colonel,) his conduct " was as brave 
and noble as any friend of his could desire." Just as the Union army began 
their retreat, Abbott was shot — the ball passing directly through the neck. 
One of his men, Lucius Page,* seeing him fall, ran to him, and asked, " Are 
you wounded ?" Abbott with difficulty replied, " Yes." Page inquired, " Can 
I do anything for you?" But the dying captain was unable to reply. The 
blood gushed from his neck, and in a few moments, he was dead. Page 
brought away his sword, and said he could have lain down and died beside 
him. 

His company, which was his pride, was always distinguished for its neat, 
soldierly appearance, and was, says General Andrews, "in every respect, 
fully equal to any that I have seen in the volunteer service." General Gor- 
don says, " I saw him when he fell. I was proud that I had done something 
to educate him to the profession he so much, so peculiarly adorned." 

The body of the lamented captain was buried with public 
honors on Sunday, August 17th. The same hand that suffused 
his infant face with the waters of baptism, also committed his 
body to the ground — " earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to 
dust." f 

* Page was wounded and taken prisoner at ChanceUorsville, and aftei-- 
ward died of his wounds. 

tsee Lowell CoMrier, August 21st and 26th, and September 11th, 1862. 
Also, Harvard Memorial Biographies, vol. ii, pp. 77-90. 



> 




MA.TOlt K. (i. AIIBOTT 



I 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 183 

Twenty days after Abbott's death, fell First Lieutenant 
James R. Darracott, of Company E, of the Sixteenth Regi- 
ment, who was instantly killed at the second battle of Bull 
Run. He was thirty-four years of age, and left a widow, 
daughter of Alexander Wright, and one child. 

On October 5th, 1862, Captain Timothy A. Crowley, of 
Company A, Thirtieth Infantry, died at New Orleans, of inter- 
mittent fever. He was born in Lowell, February 14th, 1831, 
and after quitting school was long employed as a machinist 
in the Lowell Machine Shop. For several years, he was con- 
nected with the city police, and in 1858 was Deputy Marshal. 
He subsequently studied law, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1860. He was one of those over whom General Butler 
threw the magical spell of his peculiar genius; and no Scot- 
tish clansman of the medieval age ever followed his leader 
with more ardor and devotedness than Crowley. 

"No oath but by his chieftam's hat, 
Xo law but Roderick Dhu's commaud." 

He was a corporal in the Watson Light Guard in their 
three months' campaign, and bore the colors of the Sixth Regi- 
ment during the Baltimore riot of 1861, with a steady courage 
that attracted the admiration of all. He then gathered the 
company of which he was captain at his death. He displayed 
fine abilities as an officer, and won the entire respect of all 
with whom he came in contact in the Department of the Gulf. 
He left a widow and two children. His remains were brought 
to Lowell, and buried with public honors, October 26th, 1862. 

On December 13th, 1862, the Army of the Potomac under 
General Burnside advanced on the defences of Fredericksburg, 
but only to be driven back, after a sublime exhibition of its 
courage and a lavish outpouring of its blood, to its original 
lines. Among the killed in this engagement was Captain 
Thomas Claflfey of Lowell. He was born in Cork, Ireland, and 
came to Lowell when a boy. Having secured such elementary 
education as a Lowell Grammer School affords, he became first 



184 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

an operative in the mills, afterward clerk to a shopkeeper, 
and finally a shopkeeper himself. He devoted all the time he 
could spare to the improvement of his mind. He made ex- 
tensive forays into history, ancient and modern, sacred and 
secular. Entering the Twentieth Eegiment as a private, he 
was soon promoted to a Lieutenancy for gallant conduct at 
Antietam. 

At Fredericksburg, the command of his company devolved 
on him, and here his gallantry won him a commission as Bre- 
vet Captain. This honor, however, was conferred too late. 
Early in the engagement, he for whom it was intended, fell, 
shot through the mouth and neck ; and so, amid the cloud and 
thunder of battle, the impetuous spirit of Captain ClafFey took 
the everlasting flight. His body was not recovered. He was 
twenty-eight years old, and left a widow and two children. 

On January 12ih, 1863, Greneral Butler, returning from 
New Orleans, was received by the people in Huntington Hall, 
where, in an elaborate speech, he defended his administration 
in the Department of the Gulf. He was accompanied by the 
gallant General Strong, who was mortally wounded, a few 
months later, in the last desperate storming of Fort Wagner. 

On February 17th, 1863, the Fifteenth Battery, composed 
chiefly of Lowell men, was mustered for three years' ser- 
vice. Timothy Pearson was its Captain ; but he being chiefly 
engaged in recruiting, the actual command of the Battery de- 
volved largely on Lieutenant Albert Kowse. 

On February 25th, 26th and 27th, 1863, the ladies of 
Lowell held their famous Soldiers' Fair, to replenish the funds 
of the Sanitary Commission. About five thousand dollars 
were realized by this fair, which was the second of the kind 
during the War — St. Louis, the Queen City of the West, hav- 
ing held the first. Five thousand dollars raised by this fair, 
— three thousand dollars collected through the Soldiers' Aid 
Association, — four thousand dollars contributed to the Boston 
Sailors' Fair of 1864, — numerous smaller sums collected and 




CAPT. THOMAS CLAFFEY, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 185 

distributed through other channels, and innumerable contribu- 
tions of clothing, shoes, etc., — all combine to attest how faith- 
fully and how efficiently the ladies of Lowell served their 
country in her most perilous hour. 

It hapi3ened, by a strange contrast, that just as one portion 
of our people were exerting themselves so successfully for the 
benefit of our soldiers, others, (happily a much smaller num- 
ber) were perfecting elaborate and ingenious schemes for steal- 
ing the large bounties which soldiers then received from City, 
State and Nation. This infamous business was carried on, 
not only by civilian-scoundrels, but also by several Lowell 
army officers ; and if some of them were afterward punished 
for their peculations, their punishments were not half what 
they deserved. Death, by sentence of a drum-head court- 
martial, was the just penalty which Napoleon inflicted on 
officers who swindled his soldiers. But our soldiers were left 
to such redress as they could obtain from courts of law. The 
courts were right,- but they were altogether too slow. Pri- 
vate William Eiley, for example, recovered judgment against 
Timothy Pearson for his local bounty of one hundred and fifty 
dollars ; but before execution could issue, Pearson had 

" folded his tent like the Arabs, 

Aud silently stolen away." 

On April 14th, 1863, the Andover Conference of Congrega- 
tional Ministers met in Lowell. Upon adjourning, they called 
on General Butler in a body, thanked him for his recognition 
of the Higher Power, and pledged him their votes and their 
prayers ! Imagine the Apostles calling on any Eoman poli- 
tician to thank him for recognizing his own Maker ! Had we 
a painter among us, his easel could hardly be better employed 
than in portraying these reverend fathers, playing the game 
of mutual admiration with one in whose regards all the gods 
"from Jove to Jesus" stand alike indifferent, — but who has 
the good sense to see that rabbi, mufti, priest and parson 

* Sullivan v. Fitzgerald, 12 Allen, 482. 
16* 



186 HISTORY or LOWELL. 

are all useful as a higher order of constabulary, or moral po- 
lice, — and who would copy the Broad Churchman ship of those 
philosophic Eomans who ''bowed with equal reverence to the 
Lybian, the Olympian or the Capitoline Jupiter." 

Among the officers killed in General Hookers' advance on 
Chancellorsville, April oOth, 1863, was Captain George Bush, 
of Company B, Thirteenth Infantry. He was born in Middle- 
sex Village, July 4th, 1834, and was the son of Francis Bush, 
of the well known firm of Bent & Bush, hatters. He entered 
the regiment as Second Lieutenant. He was engaged in nine 
battles, and in six of them he commanded his company. Two 
of his brothers were also in the army — Major Joseph Bush, 
and Lieutenant Francis Bush. He had a third brother, Ed- 
ward Bush, who was accidentally drowned in Boston, in 1867. 

On the following day, in the same battle, Captain Salem S. 
Marsh, acting Colonel of the Twenty-Second United States 
Infantry, and one of the finest officers in the regular army, 
was shot through the brain. He was born in Southbridge in 
1836, and was the son of Sumner Marsh, long a citizen of 
Lowell. He graduated at West Point in 1858. When the 
War began he was stationed on the frontier, and with him were 
four other officers, his superiors in rank, natives of the South, 
who at once sent in their resignations, and without waiting for 
a reply, abandoned their posts, and went home. Undismayed 
by the difficulties of his position, the noble Marsh, then only 
a Second Lieutenant, at once assumed command, and, with 
the aid of the Surgeon and the non-commissioned staff, per- 
formed not only his own duties, but also the duties of the 
four officers who had deserted their flag. He was buried. May 
17th, with the honors due to so gallant a career. 

" They that were true to their country and God 
Shall meet at the last reveille." 

On June 3rd, 1863, an engagement took place at Clinton, 
Louisiana, in which Brevet Major Solon A. Perkins, of the 
Third Cavalry, was mortally wounded. He lived but two 




MAJOR S. A. PERKINS. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL 187 

hours. He was born at Lancaster, New Hampshire, Decem- 
ber 6th, 1836, and was the son of Apollos Perkins, who 
removed to Lowell with his family, in 1840. Having fitted 
for college in the High School, young Perkins entered the 
house of J. W. Paige & Co., in Boston, where he remained five 
years. From 1853 to 1856, he was attached to a mercantile 
house in Beunos Ayres, but ill health compelled his return 
home. In 1857, he became connected with a large mercantile 
firm in Valparaiso, and remained there two years ; but in 
1859, on account of civil war, all foreigners were ordered from 
Chili; and Perkins returned to Lowell. The knowledge of 
French and Spanish acquired in South America, was highly 
useful to him afterward in the Department of the Gulf, where, 
in 1862, he began his career under General Butler. Though 
only Second Lieutenant, the death of his superior, Captain 
Durivage, left him early in command, and he had abundant 
opportunities to develope his powers in numerous encounters 
with guerrillas. 

" He had six horses killed under him in as many engagements, and when 
sent out on reconnoisances, was repeatedly cut ofl' from his retui-n route by 
a superior force, and obliged to bring off his command by strategem. On 
one occasion, he rode a hundred miles in twentj'-four hours, and without 
leaving his saddle; and for the last six weeks of liis life, he did not sleep in 
a tent at all, but upon the ground under an open sky, in the wind and i-aiu."* 

With fifty-five men, he once boldly engaged four hundred 
and fifty of the enemy, and routed them so badly that th^ 
leader of the Confederate force was put under arrest by his 
superior officer for his failure. By exploits like these he won 
a brilliant reputation, and was pointed out in New Orleans as 
the boldest and most successful cavalry officer in our army. 
In that beautiful picture-gallery in which, perhaps, Lowell 
will one day gather the portraits of her heroes, a high place 
will unquestionably be assigned to our most daring and dash- 
ing cavalry captain — le heau sabre — Solon A. Perkins. 

" We will not deem his life was brief, 
For noble death is length of days ; 
The sun that ripens Autumn's leaf 
Has poured a summer's wealth of rays." 

* Street's Funeral Sermon of Perkins, p. 14. 



188 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

At the battle of Gettysburg, July 3rd, 1863, fell Captains 
John Murkland and David W. Eoche. Captain Murkland was 
born in Paisley, Scotland, August 23rd, 1885, and in early 
boyhood came to Lowell. When the war began, he enlisted in 
Company B, of the Fifteenth Infantry. He first distinguished 
himself at the battle of Antietam, being then First Sergeant. 
For his gallantry there he was at once commissioned Captain. 
While in command of his company at Gettysburg, he was 
mortally wounded. He was buried July 14th, with military 
honors. He was married, but left no children. The other 
Lowell captain killed at Gettysburg, was David W. Roche, 
who went out as Second Lieutenant of the Hill Cadets, from 
which company he was subsequently transferred to Company 
A of the same regiment, and promoted to a captaincy. While 
at home on leave in the preceding March, he was married. 
The military career of Captain Eoche was an honorable one, 
but it aiforded him no opportunity for the acquisition of a 
specially brilliant fame. His remains were interred with pub- 
lic honors, August 3rd, 1863. He was thirty-three years of 
age, and a native of Cork, Ireland. 

On October 6th, 1863, in a skirmish with a party of Quan- 
trell's guerrillas, near Baxter's Springs, Kansas, Judge- Advocate 
Asa Walton Farr, of the staff of General Blunt, and seventy- 
seven others, were taken prisoners and shot. He was born in 
1821, at Sharon, Vermont, (the native town of Joseph Smith, 
the Mormon prophet.) For seven years, he was a practicing 
lawyer in Lowell, and was District Attorney of Middlesex 
County in 1851 and 1852. For the last ten years of his life, 
he practiced in Wisconsin. He had also been a member of the 
Wisconsin Legislature. He left a widow and two children. 

On July 15th, 1868, four hundred and nine names of Lowell 
men were drawn from the wheel at Concord, under the Con- 
scription act, and the call based thereon ; — but of these less 
than thirty were actually forced into the service. A lavish 
outpouring of money for National, State, City and private 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 189 

bounties saved Lowell from any extensive ''draft" of her con- 
scriptible men. 

At the close of 1863 and early in 1864, the Fifty-Ninth 
Infantry and the Second Heavy Artillery were recruited. 
Both contained many Lowell men. 

On April 2nd, 1864, Lieutenant Maurice Eoche, brother of 
Captain D. W. Eoche, died at Charlestown, of disease con- 
tracted in an unattached company of Heavy Artillery. 

On April 14th, 1864, Lieutenant Charles B. Wilder, of the 
Steam Frigate Minnesota, was killed near Smithfield in Vir- 
ginia. He was shot in the head by a party of the enemy's 
riflemen, who attacked a boat expedition, sent into Smithfield 
Creek, under command of Lieutenant Wilder, to dredge for 
torpedoes. He was thirty-four years of age, and left a wife 
and one child. He was buried in Lowell with naval honors, 
April 24th. His personal and professional qualifications were 
such, (said Admiral Lee,) as "to command the respect and 
esteem of all who were associated with him in the service." 

Exactly three weeks after the funeral of Lieutenant AVil- 
der, occurred the more imposing obsequies of Ceneral Henry 
Livermore Abbott. He was born in Lowell, January 21st, 
1842. He and his brother, Major Abbott, fitted for college 
together in the Lowell High School, graduated together at 
Harvard in 1860, and together entered on the study of the 
law. When the war broke out, he joined the Fourth Bat- 
talion of Infantry as a private. On July 20th, 1861, he was 
commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Twentieth Infantry, 
and subsequently won successive promotions to First Lieuten- 
ant, Captain, Major and Brevet Brigadier-General. He took 
part in all the great battles of the Army of the Potomac pre- 
ceding his death, and displayed such splendid qualities that 
every battle added to his renown. 

It was once observed by Napoleon, that no army could bear 
the strain of the loss of more than one-third of its numbers. 
But, in the battle of Fredericksburg, December Uth, 1862, 



190 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

the company commanded by Abbott, lost thirty-five men out 
of sixty. The same company having been re-filled, afterward 
went into the battle of Gettysburg, Abbott still being Cap- 
tain, and though full two-thirds of its members were killed or 
wounded, still preserved its morale. 

A life so terribly exposed can never last long. While in 
command of his regiment, at the battle of the Wilderness, 
May 6th, 1864, and gallantly leading his faithful veterans to 
the charge, he was stricken down by a bullet and carried to 
the rear mortally wounded. " His devotion to his men was 
shown in his last sufi'ering moments, by a direction that all 
the money he left should be used for the relief of widows and 
orphans of soldiers of his regiment." Truly, "the bravest are 
the tenderest." " Had he lived," said General Hancock, "he 
would have been one of our most distinguished commanders." 

" His growth in the last four years of his life was almost beyond belief. 
His career, short as it was, was long enough to show that his early death 
deprived his country of one of its most faithful and most precious cham- 
pions, his State of one of its most worthy sons, his companions in arms of 
an associate beyond praise. No name holds such a place as his in the hearts 
of the surviving officers and soldiers of the regiment." * 

In the summer of 1862, a wound received in the Seven Days' 
Battles brought him home "on sick leave." Before returning 
he made his last visit to Lowell — a visit of which bevies of 
Lowell belles, including some of the purest and fairest of earth 
or skies, still cherish tender recollections. As the youthful 
hero trod his native river-bank for the last time, and heard 
the plaintive murmurs of the Merrimack, which he was never 
to hear again, — perhaps the words of the poet were re-called 
to his mind, foreshadowing so sadly his own glorious but un- 
timely end: 

"A thousand suns Avill streani on thee, 
A thousand moons will quiver, 
But not by thee my step shall be, 
Forever and forever." 

On October 30th, 1863, Lieutenant George F. Critchett died 
at Lowell, of disease contracted in the Seventh Light Battery. 

* Palfrey's Memoir of Abbott, Harvard Memorial Biographies, vol. ii, 
pp. 91—104. 




GKX. n. L. ABliOTT. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 191 

He went out as a private, won promotion by merit, and had 
been offered the command of his Battery ; but failing health 
brought him home to die, in his twenty-fifth year. 

On May 31st, 1864, occurred the battle of Cold Harbor; 
(though a field where the number killed on the Union side was 
twenty times greater than the number killed of the enemy, 
might rather be called a massacre than a battle.) There two 
Lowell captains fell — Dudley C. Mumford, of Company Gr, 
Nineteenth Infantry, and John Rowe, of Company E, of the 
Sixteenth. The former was killed instantly ; the latter was 
mortally wounded and taken prisoner, and died June 24th, 
1864, in Libby Prison. Both entered their regiments as pri- 
vates, and won their shoulder-straps by their valor alone. 

On June 7th, 1864, about thirty men of the Second Infantry, 
who enlisted originally under the lamented Captain Abbott, 
returned to Lowell, having honorably completed their three 
years' service. Many of their comrades re-enlisted, and re- 
mained in the field until July, 1865. Returning in an unor- 
ganised manner, these war-worn veterans received no public 
reception whatever. This was much to be regretted ; for no 
men "covered themselves with glory," more than these men 
of the gallant Second. The battles in which they took part 
were Jackson, Front Royal, Winchester, Cedar Mountain, An- 
tietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Reseca, 
Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Raleigh, Ave- 
rysborough, etc. The Second and the Thirty-Third were the 
only regiments containing any considerable number of Lowell 
men, that accompanied the gallant Sherman in his grand march 
from Atlanta to the sea. 

On July 21st, 1864, the Hill Cadets and the Butler Rifles, 
under Major Donovan and Captain O'Hare, were welcomed 
home on returning from their three year's service. In those 
tragic years, the Sixteenth took part in the battles of Fair 
Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, Kettle Run, Chantilly, Freder- 
icksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Locust Grove, Wil- 



192 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

derness, Spottsjlvania, Nortli Anna Eiver, Cold Harbor and 
Petersburg — a record wbicli their children and their children's 
children may look back upon with pride. 

In July, 1864, — volunteers for one hundred days' service 
having been called for by the President, — the Sixth Eegiment 
again responded, and was assigned guard duty at Port Dela- 
ware. 

Among the victims of the explosion of the Petersburg mine, 
July 30th, 1864, was Asa E. Hayward, then a private in the 
Pifty-Pirst New York Infantry, but previously a Pirst Lieu- 
tenant or Captain in the Massachusetts Twenty-Pirst. He 
was wounded, captured and confined in Saulsbury prison. He 
succumbed under his sufferings, and died on being exchanged. 
He was forty years old, and left a widow {nee Panny Prench) 
and three children. 

On October 1st, 1864, Major Henry T. Lawson, of the 
Second Heavy Artillery, died at Newbern, North Carolina, 
of yellow fever. He had previously been Captain of Com- 
pany I, of the Sixteenth Infantry. His remains were buried 
at Newton, where his family resided. He was the last com- 
missioned of&cer that was identified with Lowell, who lost 
his life while in actual service. 

Is the question asked, Why not mention those who were 
not of commissioned rank ? The onl}' answer is, that they 
are altogether too numerous, and with respect to many of 
them, no information is attainable. In mental and moral 
power, as well as in social rank, the privates were often supe- 
rior to their officers. One Lowell boy, a private in the Porty- 
Pourth Infantry, son of Judge Hopkinson, had graduated at 
Harvard, studied law with Judge Gray, and contributed reg- 
ularly to the Atlantic MonthlyS' Another Lowell private, 
Poster AVilson, has since served with credit in the City Coun- 
cil, and in the State Legislature. A third, Samuel M. Bell, 

*He died of fever at Newbern, Feb. 13, 1SG3. Harvard Memorial Biog, 
raphies, vol. 2, pp. 21-29. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 193 

has been chosen by bis comrades, including officers as well as 
privates, President of the Army and Navy Union. A fourth, 
P. H. Welch, was head-salesman in a Broadway wholesale 
house, having a general under him as his clerk. 

So with the Lowell sailors. John F. Devlin declined an 
appointment as Ensign, but served with credit as chief signal- 
quarter-master on Admiral Dahlgren's staff. Timothy Sul- 
livan, too, refused the command of a clipper schooner, but 
became coxswain to Captain Meade, on board the San Jacinto, 
and, when stranded on No-i!^ame Key, gallantly stood by, 
fighting desperately with the wreckers, as well as with the 
storm. But the roll of our "distinguished privates" would 
far outnumber that of our commissioned braves. 

Among the civilians from Lowell who shared the fortunes 
of our armies in the field, was William Porter Bay, whose 
encyclopaedic learning and affluent genius entitle him to a 
high place in the gallery of distinguished Lowellians. His 
natural gifts were altogether remarkable, and were improved 
by all the agencies that Harvard and Heidelburg employ to 
develop and discipline the minds of their sons. He was one 
of the brightest and best of the spoiled children of genius. 
He entered the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
but became involved in a dispute with his Diocesan, (Bishop 
Upfold,) who temporarily suspended his functions. He was 
acting as one of the army correspondents of the New York 
Times, in Virginia, when his life was cut short by an attack 
of small-pox. His lyceum discourse on Bouseau, his article 
in the Atlantic Monthly on Dealings with the Dead, and sev- 
eral other productions of his pen, attracted great attention. 

On October 28th, 1864, the Twenty-Sixth Infantry, received 
a public welcome home. The battles in which they were en- 
gaged were Winchester, Cedar Creek, and Fisher's Hill. 

On January 2Sth, 1865, General Butler, made his famous 
speech in Huntington Hall, explaining the causes of his defeat 
at Fort Fisher. On the career of this remarkable man, it 
17 



194 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

would be useless to pronounce judgment at present. All the 
judgments of history are subject to perpetual appeal ; — those 
touching contemporaneous characters are seldom or never final. 
Parton's estimate of Butler will not be accepted finally ; nei- 
ther will that of " Brick Pomeroy." The former is surcharged 
with unreasoning panegyric; the latter with passionate vitu- 
peration. General Butler'a reputation cannot be demolished ; 
for it stands on a solid foundation — on his occupation of An- 
napolis and of Baltimore, and on his wholesome discipline at 
New Orleans. His coquettish dalliances with the Secessionists 
in 1860, — his first repulse at Big Bethel, — his later fizzle at 
Bermuda Hundreds, — and his grander /ic/scy at Fort Fisher, — 
will be viewed with leniency, in consideration of his prompt 
dash into Baltimore, and of the firm grip with which he held, 
as by the throat, the New Orleans "roughs." Said Cromwell 
to Lely, " Paint me as I am ; if you leave out the scars and 
wrinkles, I'll never give you a shilling." General Butler has 
great faults ; but he has many compensatory merits. He is 
no Cromwell ; but he can afi'ord to be painted as he is. Fully 
equal to many of "Plutarch's men," he is sure to live here- 
after on the painters' burning canvass, and on the historian's 
pictured page. And when the throng of his calumniators are 
sleeping in unhonored and forgotten graves, his statue, in 
enduring bronze, will rise in some public square of our city, 
and be admired by millions that are now unborn. 

On April 5th, 1865, the citizens flocked to Huntington 
Hall to express their joy over the fall of Piichmond. Another 
meeting of patriotic jubilation was held, with more formal 
preparation, on the 10th. 

On April 15th, 1865, the people of the whole country were 
shocked by the intelligence that, on the preceding night, the 
Patriot-President, Abraham Lincoln, had been shot by an 
assassin. On the day following, the grief of the people found 
appropriate expression in all the churches. On the 19th, a 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 195 

eulogy of Lincoln was delivered in Lowell, by George S. Bout- 
well, Representative in Congress/'-' 

On June 13th, 1865, the Lowell men of the Thirty-Third 
Infantry, about ninety in all, returned to Lowell, their term 
of enlistment having expired. The Thirty-Third bore a gal- 
lant part in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 
Beverly Ford, Gettysburg, Lookout Valley, Mission Kidge, 
Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Golgotha, Gulp's 
Farm, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Averys- 
boro', Bentonville, and Goldsboro.' 

On tlie seventeenth of June, 1865, the Ladd and Whitney 
Monument was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. The 
lines inscribed upon this Monument, from the Samson Agon- 
istes of Milton, were selected by the lamented Governor An- 
drew, who also delivered the dedicatory oration. His closing 
sentences expressed, in eloquent terms, the glowing hope that 
this shaft might stand for a thousand generations : 

" Henceforth shall the inhahitauts of Lowell guard for Massachusetts, 
for patriotism, and for libert.y, this sacred trust, as they of Acton, of Lex- 
ington, of Concord, protect the votive stones which commemorate the men 
of April, '75. 

"Let it stand, as long as the Merrimack runs from the mountains to the 
sea ; while this busy stream of human life sweeps on by the banks of the 
river, bearing to eternity its freight of destiny and hope. It shall speak to 
your children not of Death, but of Immortality. It shall stand here a mute, 
expressive witness of the beauty and the dignity of youth and manly prime 
consecrated in unselfish obedience to Dut3^ It shall testify that gratitude 
will remember, and praise will wait on, the humblest who, by the intrinsic 
gi-eatness of their souls, or the worth of their offerings, have risen to the 
s'ablime peerage of Virtue." 

The procession previous to the dedication, though indiffer- 
ently managed, was the most magnificent ever seen in Lowell. 
It presented an imposing array of National and State officials; 
the Staffs of the Governors of Massachusetts and Maryland ; 
officers and men who had served in the Army and Navy ; 
members of the Lowell, Boston, Worcester and Lawrence 
City Governments ; Selectmen of towns ; Encampments of the 

♦Speeches relating to the Rebellion, pp. 356-371. 



196 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Knights Templar ; Lodges of the Free Masons, the Odd Fel- 
lows, and the American Protestant Association ; bodies of In- 
fantry and Cavalry ; Bands of Music, Firemen, Fenians, and 
miscellaneous organizations. 

At the close of the War, the Mayor prepared the following 
abstract of the number of men furnished from Lowell under 
the several calls of the President, together with the amounts 
paid for City Bounties, and the sums expended by the city in 
recruiting: 

1861, April 15th, call for 75,000 men for three months. Lowell furnished 
223 men, at a cost of $59(3.08; average cost, $2.G7 3-10. 

1831, May 3rcl, call for 50,000 men; .July 1st, call for 600,000 men. Our 
quota under these calls was 2098 men for three years. The number recruited 
was 2390, at a cost of $05,681.78; average cost, $27.48. 

18G2, August 4th, call for 300,000 men, for nine months. Our quota was 
235. We enlisted and furnished 557 men, at a cost of $22,162.25; average, 
$35.78 8-10. ^ 

1863, October 17th, call for 300,000 men. February 1 , 1804, call for 500,000 
men. Our quota was 288 men. We furnished 211 men, at a cost of $902.30; 
average cost, $4.27 6-10. The report of the Adjutant General, January 1, 1864» 
stated that we had at that time a surplus of 179 men. 

1864, July 18th, call for .500,000 men ; our quota, 627. We furnished (in- 
cluding 196 Navy recruits), 998 men, at a cost of $147,.549.11 ; average cost, 
$147.94 1-2. 

1864, December 19th, call for 300,000 men. No quota Avas ever assigned 
to Lowell under this call. I was informed by the Provost Marshal that our 
quota January 1st, 1865, was eight men short of all requirements. We contin- 
ued our enlistments until the sui-render of Richmond. The number enlisted 
subsequent to the call in December was 132 men at a cost of $17,039.55 ; aver- 
age cost, $129.08. 

Of the volunteers for 100 days, Lowell furnished 252 men, at a cost of 
$143.80 — making the whole niimber standing to our credit 4763 men, and the 
whole cost of recruiting and bounties, $254,074.87. In addition to this we 
have expended for uniforms, equipments, interest on State aid paid, and 
other incidental expenses of the war, exclusive of the Ladd and Whitney 
Monument,* the sum of $39,141,02— making a grand total of $293,215.89. It 
should be stated that there were 450 men fro ,n our city who enlisted in the 
naval service, but in the apportionment which was made, only 196 were al- 
lowed to our credit. Had we received full credit for these men, our whole 
number furnished would have been 5022. t 

The amounts of State Aid disbursed since the beginning of 
the War have been as follows :— 1861, $21,912.30; 1862, 

*This cost $4,.500, of Avhich the State paid $2,000. 
t Peabody's Second Inaugural, pp. 6-7. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL 197 

$87,439.78; 1863, $102,011.78; 1864, $90,135.40 ; 1865. 
$54,272.00; 1866, $35,760.00 ; 1867, $34,500.10. 

At the close of July, 1865, the Lowell men of the Fifty- 
Ninth, a nine-months' regiment of infantry, returned, having 
been present in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, 
North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Rail- 
road, Poplar Spring, Fort Sedgwick, and Fort Mahone. 

One regiment only, containing many Lowell men, continued 
in service later than the Fifty-Ninth. This was the Thirtieth, 
which was not mustered out until the following year. The 
battles in which the Thirtieth took part, were those of Vicks- 
burg. Baton Rouge, Plain's Store, Port Hudson, Donaldsonville, 
Windiester, Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. 

The Seventh and Fifteenth Batteries also remained in ser- 
vice some months longer. The Seventh was present in the 
engagements at Deserted House, South Quay, Somerton, Provi- 
dence Church Road, Holland's House, Mansura, and Mobile. 
The Fifteenth was present only at the seige of Mobile. 

With the mustering out of these men Lowell's part in the 
War of the Rebellion may be said to have closed. The last 
battle had been fought, the last army of the South disbanded. 
With a few exceptions, the soldiers and sailors of Lowell had 
returned to their homes, or to civil life elsewhere, or had lain 
down to the long sleep — the slumber that knows no waking. 

Well, then, might Governor Bullock tender to the people of 
Lowell his generous tribute of elof|uent congratulation : 

" While the industry and wealth of other communities have been stimu- 
lated hy the war, yours, I api>reheud, have been checked and depressed. 
Tliis, however, did not chill the ardor of your patriotism, Avhich rose above 
every thought of private interest, and broke forth in great acts of generous 
and chivalrous devotion. Since the men of Chelmsford fought at Concord, 
Lexington and Bunker Hill, no record has bonie prouder honors than those 
which cluster around the brow of the living, and over the graves of the dead 
soldiers of the Queen City of the Merrimack. In her honored son, Major- 
Geneval Butler, she gave to the field one of the earliest and ablest general 
officers of the v/ar, whose pen and sword have been alike devoted to the 
success of popular ideas throughout the contest, and who still sei'ves his 
country with his elTorts to crown victory Avith universal liberty. Lowell fur- 

17- 



198 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

nished at the first tap of the drum four companies, to the immortal Sixth, 
to protect the capital in the hour of gloom and almost of capture; she has 
filled every one of her quotas without a draft; she has left a surplus account 
of gallant men at tlie office of the Adjutant General from the beginning to 
the end; and she will ever appear, before the whole world, with the monu- 
mental renown of having contributed the first blood of the fifth epic of 
martyrs. Yes, the monument in yonder square sliall transmit to distant 
generations your imperishable distinction as the patriot and martyr city! 
Garlands of mingled laurel and cypress, that shall neither fade nor decay, 
will surround the crest of your municipality so long as the noble river, 
in whose waters tlie infancy of this city was bathed, shall flow by and lave 
the seats of her industry and power ! Hail therefore to-day, and welcome 
Lowell ! that having no ancient annals or lengthened traditions, has passed 
into the classic sisterhood of chivalry, without a superior and with scarcely 
a rival ! " 



CHAPTER XIII. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF LOWELL. 1860 1868. 

Anna A. Dower— Bryant Moore— Prince Jerome — Nathan Appleton — Josiah 
G. Abbott — John Nesmith — Changes in Population— John P. Robinson — 
Shakespearean Festival— Elisha Huntington — Samuel A. Brown — Statue 
of Victory— Third Mechanics' Exhibition — General Sheridan— Manufac- 
turers' Convention. 

January 4th, 1860, was observed as a National Fast Day, 
hj appointment of President Buchanan. 

On January 10th, the Pemberton Mill at Lawrence fell, 
instantly killing or fatally injuring eighty-seven operatives, 
and wounding from fifty to seventy-five others. All the 
Lowell surgeons hastened at once to the assistance of the suf- 
fering victims. 

On January 12th, Joseph Butterfield, for nearly fifty years 
a Deputy Sheriff, passed away, in his seventy-sixth year. He 
was born in Tyngsboro', and removed to Lowell about 1838. 
A man of the highest integrity and of great originality. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 199 

On March 30th, Mrs. Ehoda M. Wilkins died suddenly by 
poison. Suspicions were at once fastened on Anna A. Dower, 
who had been her attendant. She was arrested on an indict- 
ment for murder, was defended by Alpheus E. Brown and 
Edwin A. Alger, and after three trials was discharged. 

On June 19th, Bryant Moore shot his third wife, Eliza- 
beth A. Moore, through the head, at his house. No. 61 East 
Merrimack street. In the following December, Moore was 
brought to trial at East Cambridge, and was convicted of mur- 
der in the second degree. He was defended by J. Gr. Abbott, 
E. B. Gaverly, and Charles Cowley who subsequently obtained 
a pardon for him from Governor Andrew. 

On January 30th, 1861, a branch of the Carpenters' and 
Joiners' Union was established in Lowell. The Machinists and 
Blacksmiths were organized about two years earlier. Branches 
of the Painters', the Moulders', and the Coach Makers' Unions 
have since been formed, but the two former collapsed. These 
societies are all founded on the same basis, pursue the same ob- 
jects, and encounter the same opposition, as the Trades Unions 
of Great Britain. 

On July Uth, 1861, died Nathan Appleton— the last of 
the little band of enterprising men that founded Lowell. 
Though he went to Boston a poor boy, and rose to the highest 
affluence by his enterprize in manufactures and commerce, his 
life was by no means devoted to mere money-making. Elected 
repeatedly to the National and State Legislatures, he won 
eminent distinction as a statesman. His speeches on the Tariff 
were magazines of facts and arguments. He was an active 
member of several learned societies, and wrote with great vigor 
and ability on the Banking System, the Currency, Geology, 
Labor, Financial Panics, Slavery, the Union, Original Sin, the 
Trinity, etc. In a word, he stood among the foremost men of 
his times ; and his death created a vacancy in manufacturing 
and commercial circles, which no living man could fill.* 
* Robert C. Winthrop's Memoir of Appleton. 



200 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Only one member of his family ever resided in Lowell — 
Ebenezer Appleton, Treasurer of the corporation which hears 
his family name, who died here in 1834, at the age of forty- 
eight, — leaving a reputation for ability and integrity not infe- 
rior to that of Nathan. 

On September 24th, Prince Jerome Napoleon, with his con- 
sort, the Princess Clotilde, daughter of Victor Emanuel, King 
of Italy, visited Lowell, having, doubtless, been recommended 
to do so by his friend, Michel Chevalier. More than a quar- 
ter of a century had elapsed since Chevalier's visit ; the New 
England girls on whom he then gazed so admiringly, had 
passed away ; and their places were now filled by a motley 
crowd of Americans, English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch and French 
Canadians, who were hardly likely to arouse that exquisite 
poetic sentiment which Chevalier felt for the factory -girls of 
1884. 

Two days after the Prince's visit, another National Fast Day 
was observed, by appointment of President Lincoln. National 
troubles were now thickening. 

In 1861, the Mechanics' Savings Bank was incorporated — 
the last that has been started in Lowell. 

In 1801, Lowell lost one of her ablest lawyers, and one of 
her most public-spirited citizens, by the removal of Josiah G. 
Abbott to Boston. He was born in Chelmsford, November 1st, 
1815, and graduated at Harvard in 1832. After teaching for 
some months the Fitchburg Academy, he began the study of 
law in the office of Nathaniel Wright. In November, 1836, a 
few days after the completion of his twenty-first year, he was 
elected a member of the State Legislature, and in the follow- 
ing January, was admitted to the Bar. He fv^rmcd a copart- 
nership with Amos Spaulding, and the net earnings of the 
firm during the first year were five thousand dollars. He sat 
in the State Senate in 1842 and 1843, and in the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1853. In 1855 ho was appointed one of 
the Justices of the Superior Court for Suffolk Count}-. Three 




JOnN XESMITn. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 201 

years afterward, lie resigned the Bencli, and resumed his place 
in the front rank of the Bar. During the last fifteen years 
of his practice here, when he was associated with Samuel A. 
Brown, he probably tried more civil cases than any other law- 
yer in New England. His criminal practice was also large, 
though less extensive than that of B. F. Butler, who was so 
often his antagonist in the forum. Three sons of Judge Ab- 
bott won honorable distinction during the Kebellion, and two 
of them head the list of the noble army of Lowell's patriot- 
martyrs. 

At the State election in 1861, John Nesmith was elected 
Lieutenant Governor by the Eepublicans — an appropriate 
though tardy acknowledgment of many years adherence, and 
of many important services, to the principles On which the 
Eepublican party came into power. Mr. Nesmith was born 
in Londonderry, New Hampshire, August 3rd, 1793, and 
removed to Lowell in January, 1832. He has been actively 
and conspicuously identified with the manufacturing interests 
of Lowell for more than a third of a century, and has contrib- 
uted his full share to the development of the mechanic arts. 
A machine for the manufacture of wire fence, and another for 
the manufacture of shawl-fringe, have attested his inventive 
skill. The project for increasing the power of the Merrimack 
by creating great reservoirs near its sources, was originated 
by him. The utilization of the water-falls below Lowell, — 
in a word, the city of Lawrence, — was also first projected by 
him. Lawrence, indeed, existed in the brain of Mr. Nesmith 
more than ten years before she existed as a fact. Preparations 
for building mills where Lawrence now stands, were begun by 
him, in conjunction with Josiah Gr. Abbott and Daniel Saun- 
ders, as early as 1835, and were only postponed by the financial 
revulsion which then ensued. These preparations were finally 
carried out in a manner highly honorable to the projectors. 
Instead of buying up the lands of the farmers by stealth, (as 
was done at the origin of Lowell,) they frankly explained to 



202 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

the land owners that they designed to build a city, and proposed 
to pay them for their lands twenty-five per cent, more than 
they were actually worth. In I860, Mr. Nesmith, resigned 
the Lieutenant-Governorship to accept the office of Collector of 
Internal Eevenue for the Lowell District. In 1866, he pub- 
lished "Thoughts on the Currency, by an old Merchant," a 
pamphlet full of practical suggestions. 

On October 14th, 1862, the steam boiler in the State Alms 
House at Tewksbury exploded, killing ten and wounding fif- 
teen of the inmates. 

On November 6th, died Ithamar W. Beard, in his forty- 
ninth year. He was a native of Littleton in this county, had 
practiced law in Lowell from 1842 to 1856, and had been 
Assistant Treasurer at Boston during the Administration of 
Tranklin Pierce. In politics, he was always a Democrat. 

On April 2nd, 1863, died Stephen Mansur, in his sixty- 
fourth year. He had been identified wdth Lowell for more 
than forty years, and had been a prominent trader from 1830 
till the time of his death. He had filled various local offices, 
municipal and ecclesiastical, and what is much more, had 
always maintained a high character for honor and integrity. 

On July 19th, died Rev. David 0. Allen, D. D., at the age 
of sixty-three. From 1827 to 1853, he labored as a mission- 
ary in India. Compelled by failing health to return to the 
United States, he took up his abode in Lowell, and here wrote 
his "India, Ancient and Modern," a work containing more 
information on that country, than any single work yet pub- 
lished. 

In 1863, the Lowell Horse Railroad Company was incorpo- 
rated with $100,000 capital. Their road was opened March 
1st, 1864. Four miles of road have been completed, costing, 
with equipments, $68,000. 

The year 1863, was marked by an excess of deaths over 
births in Lowell. Dr. Nathan Allen, then City Physician, 
called public attention to the fact that, whereas, prior to 1863, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 203 

the number of births had exceeded the number of deaths, in 
18G0, there were G95 deaths to 654 births — showing a loss of 
forty-one. 

"Of the Goi birthp, he says, 427 were of foreign origin, leaving only 227 
Arnerie'.an; of the <J'Jo deaths 822 were buried in the Roman Catholic grounds, 
with about 40 more foreigners who were Protestants and buried in other 
places, making 362 deaths of foreign origin. We then have 333 deaths to 227 
birthi— a loss of over 100, in 1833, of the strictly American population. In 
1862 of (he 757 births, 510 were foreign, and only 212 American; if one-half 
the 641 deaths were American, (320), there is then a loss of 82 in 18 ;2. The 
number of deaths in Lowell from 1853 to I8J2 was 5,055, and the number of 
births for the same time G,G18. It is found by aciual count that for several 
years, on an average, the deaths in Lowell are about equally divided between 
the foreign and the American, and the reports show that only one-third of ihe 
births belong to the latter class. By applying this rule, there is a loss from 
1853 to 18 J2 of 308 persons by excess of deaths over births among the strictly 
American portion of our population. And there are good reasons to believe 
that this depopulating process will increase moi^e rapidly hereafter than it 
has in past years." 

While some have thus obstinately refused to propagate their 
species, others have exhibited a marvellous fecundity. Thomas 
Duccy has w^on distinction as the father of thirty-seven child- 
ren, being twelve more than have been born to any other 
Lowell man. Elsewhere such services would be appreciated, 
Ducey would be sent to Congress or the General Court, or made 
Mayor. Here, he is without honor. He has not even been 
made a Justice of the Peace. 

On January 8th, 18G4, Dr. John C. Dalton, who had been 
for more than thirty years a practicing physician in Lowell, 
died in Boston in his sixty-ninth year. He was a gentleman 
of high culture and possessed many elegant accomplishments. ="^ 

On the twenty-third of April, 1864, through the instru- 
mentality of Horatio G. F. Corliss, John F. McEvoy, William 
F. Salmon, John A. Goodwin and other admirers of Shakes- 
peare, the ter-centennial anniversary of the birth of that im- 
mortal bard was celebrated in Lowell with observances that 
were admirably appropriate. Huntington Hall was splendidly 
decorated, and crowded, in the afternoon, to its utmost capa- 
city. An opening address by Dr. Huntington, an oration by 

* Green's Memoir of Dalton. 



204 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

Eev. William S. Bartlett of Chelsea, choice readings from the 
great master bj Miss Helen Eastman, and singing by the 
pupils in the public schools, formed the principal features of 
the celebration/-' A Shakespearean dinner was eaten in the 
evening, followed by toasts, sentiments, songs, speeches, etc., 
in great abundance and variety. A Shakespeare Club was 
also formed, with a view to celebrating this anniversary as 
often as it returns. 

On October 20th, 18G4, died John P. Robinson, in his sixty- 
fifth year. He was born at Dover, in New Hampshire, was 
educated at Phillips Academy and Harvard University, studied 
law in the office of Daniel Webster, and commenced practice 
here in 1827. He soon rose to local eminence, and was 
counsel in some of the most important cases ever tried in this 
county. With him was associated Horatio G. F. Corliss, first 
as a student, and afterward as a partner. Robinson served 
one year in the State Senate, and five in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, and was one of the Committee on the Revised Stat- 
utes of 1836. He ran on the Whig ticket for Congress in 
1842, but was defeated. The lovers of " sublime mediocri- 
ties," the blockheads who turned their backs on Caleb Cushing, 
could not be expected to bear true faith to Robinson ; — they 
could be satisfied with nothing but " Deacon Abbott." Him 
they finally elected, leaving Robinson to smart under that keen 
sense of wrong which he could not but feel when he contem- 
plated the unequal distribution of offices and opportunities. 
His opposition to Governor Briggs — one of the last events in 
his political career — suggested Lowell's song with the happy 
refrain, — 

"John p. 
Robinson, he 
Says he won't vote for Governor B." 

Robinson was an able and accomplished lawyer, an eloquent 
and powerful orator, and a thorough classical scholar. Among 
the happiest days in his life, were those which he spent in 

* See Lowell Shakespeare Memorial. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 205 

visiting Constantinople, Athens, Thebes, the plain of Troy, the 
field of Marathon, the pass of Thermopylae, and other places 
of ancient renown. 

Hohinson was buried in the Lowell Cemetery. The mellow 
shades of evening were falling softly on an autumnal Sunday, 
when the remains of the scholar, the statesman, the orator, 
were laid away to rest " till the heavens be no more." The 
service was the burial office of the Episcopal Church, begin- 
ning with that lofty and sublime psalm — "the Funeral Hymn 
of the World" — in which the span-long life of man is con- 
trasted so beautifully with the eternity of God. A feeling of 
subdued melancholy pervaded all present, such as that which 
Gray expresses in the immortal elegy which Kobinson's friend, 
Webster, had read to him when dying : 

" The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; 
The lowing hei'd winds slowly o'er the lea ; 
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the Avorld to darkness and to me." 

In 1864, the First National Bank was incorporated, with 
$250,000 capital. 

On January 7th, 1865, died Isaac 0. Barnes, Pension Agent 
at Boston. He was formerly a practicing lawyer in Lowell, 
and was noted as the most consummate wag that ever appeared 
at the Middlesex Bar. His whole life was a succession of 
jokes, not ending till his hands and feet had become cold with 
the torpor of death. He was sixty-seven years of age. 

On July 25th, 1865, the Lowell Exchange was organized. 
But it proved a failure. 

Two days later, the Erina Temperance Institute was formed, 
and proved a success. No agency has yet been introduced 
here, which has contributed so much to disseminate sound 
views, and to promote correct habits, touching the use of 
intoxicating beverages, as this Institute. It operates, too, 
where such an agency is most needed — among the Irish, and 
those of Irish extraction. 
18 



206 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

On December llth, 1865, died Elisha Huntington, who had 
been identified with Lowell for more than forty years. He 
was born in Topsfield, April 9th, 1796, was educated at Dart- 
mouth and at Yale, and commenced the practice of medicine 
here in 1824. As a medical practitioner, he realized a fair 
share of success ; but he did not confine himself to his profes- 
sion. He was, from the start, an active politician, and repeat- 
edly filled all the little offices of Mayor, Alderman, Common 
Councilman, School Committeeman, etc. He was a candidate 
for both branches of the State Legislature, but was defeated ; 
but in 1853, he was Lieutenant Governor. He was distin- 
guished for kindness of heart, genial manners, fine literary 
tastes, and for natural gifts and mental attainments of a high 
order. He was sometimes thought too lavish in the expendi- 
ture of public funds ; but his lavishness was economy itself, 
compared with the extravagance of some later administrations. 
If he had any fault at all as a public man, it was a want of 
continuity or consistency in his party relations. Thus he was 
run as a candidate, sometimes by the Whigs, sometimes by the 
Democrats, sometimes by the Republicans, sometimes by the 
Citizens ; and he never allowed either personal or party obli- 
gations to stand between him and an office. His political 
latitudinarianism was largely atoned for by his many personal 
excellencies ; but it contributed not a little to debauch poli- 
tics, to lower the standards of public virtue, and to introduce 
that reign of low, vulgar, mean-spirited creatures, under which 
Lowell has suffered for many years. Aside from this greedi- 
ness of office. Dr. Huntington was, in all his public relations, 
a model of a man, broad in his views, liberal in his sentiments, 
and not unfamiliar with the higher politics. 

The revival of the cotton manufacture after the close of 
the War, attracted to Lowell hundreds of French Canadians. 
Though speaking another language, these new-comers soon 
caught the spirit of progress which characterizes other classes, 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 207 

and one of the first fruits of their immigration was a library 
society, called the Association Franco- Canadienne de Lowell. 

About the same time, measures were adopted for importing 
operatives for our factories, from Continental Europe. No 
considerable number, however, has ever been imported, except 
from Great Britain. The prospect of having to receive from 
five to ten thousand Dutchmen, some fine morning, was by no 
means a pleasant subject for contemplation. 

On March 22nd, 1866, the Sheridan Circle of the Fenian 
Brotherhood was organized. This society still lives, though 
the Lowell Circle, formed at an earlier day, has collapsed. 

On March 23rd, St. Peter's School was established. It is 
under the direction of the Sisters of Charity, and is connected 
with St. Peter's Church. An orphan asylum has since been 
established in connection with this school. 

June 1st was observed as a National Tast-Day, on account 
of the death of President Lincoln. 

On June 8th, a delegation from the Boards of Trade of Chi- 
cago and other western cities visited Lowell. Young as Lowell 
is, in comparison with some of the cities from which these 
delegates came, she is old, if not effete. 

On August 6th, the Music Hall was opened for theatrical 
performances, and the drama, after an interlude of ten years, 
recovered a permanent habitation in Lowell. 

On October 10th, the Centennial of American Methodism 
was observed by a gathering of all the churches of that per- 
suasion in Lowell at St. Paul's, and a generous contribution 
of funds to various denominational purposes. 

On January 27th, 1867, died Samuel Appleton Brown, one 
of the most successful lawyers, and one of the most original 
characters that ever flourished at the Middlesex Bar. He was 
born at Ipswich, November 4th, 1810, and passed his boyhood 
in the same scenes with Eufus Choate, Judge Lord and N. J. 
Lord. He studied law with Nathan D. Appleton at Alfred, 
Maine, and was admitted to the Bar in 1840. Shortly after- 



208 HISTOKY OF LOWELL. 

ward, he formed a copartnership with J. Gr. Abbott, and shared 
his extensive and lucrative practice for fifteen years. 

Mr. Brown's ideal of a lawyer was a lofty one. Of the 
profession of the law, he thought, as did Bolingbroke, that it 
is, " in its nature, the noblest and most beneficial to mankind." 
He had none of those mean traits, none of the little arts of 
chicane, which often make the profession, (as the same writer 
declared), •* in its abuse and debasement, the most sordid and 
most pernicious." His pure and elevated character, his spot- 
less integrity, his scrupulous regard for truth and right, his 
ample learning, his untiring industry, his uniform courtesy 
and kindness, won him the highest honor and respect. He 
was especially beloved by the younger members of the Bar, 
who resorted to him and revered him as an infallible oracle of 
the law. His extreme caution and care touching all interests 
confided to him, combined with other qualities to mark him 
as one cast intellectually in an entirely original mould. 

He served two years in the State Senate, where, if he made 
no brilliant record for himself, he made the uitunes of half a 
dozen other Senators who had the tact to utilize for themselves 
the elements of power which they found in him. But he took 
little pleasure in politics, having no afi&nity with such men as 
he too commonly found in public life. His own profession 
was his favorite field, and to it he sacrificed ease, comfort, 
health and even life itself. He ever felt that the duties of 
life are more than life, and that death is but an event in life. 

" There is no Death ! what seems so is transition; 
This life of mortal breath 
Is but the suburb of the life Elysian, 
Whose portal we call Death." 

On February 4th, 1867, the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation was organized, taking the place of a society of the 
same name, incorporated twelve years previously, which had 
collapsed. 

On February 4th, 1867, was held the first fair for the bene- 
fit of the Old Ladies' Home, which was dedicated July 10th 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 209 

1867. It is under the direction of a Committee representing 
all the Protestant Churches in Lowell, and is supported bj 
charity, and the proceeds of fairs. 

On April 29th, St. John's Hospital was incorporated under 
the auspices of the Sisters of Charity. The Livermore place 
in Belvidere, was purchased hy them, and the hospital located 
temporarily in the dwelling-house where once Phillip Gedney, 
and at a later day Judge Livermore, resided. The cost of the 
estate was $12,000. 

On April 1st, 1867, the Emperor, the Empress and the 
Prince Imperial, assisted in **the Coronation of Labor," by 
the formal opening of the Universal Exposition at Paris. On 
the same day, by a strange contrast, the mule-spinners of 
Lowell, in concert with those of other cities, struck for a 
reduction in their hours of toil. As suffering more than any 
other class of factory operatives by the eleven-hour rule, they 
felt it to be their mission to initiate the ten-hour system. 
Unfortunately, they did not understand the law of strikes, 
under the operation of which no strike can succeed when the 
places of the strikers can be filled with little delay, and with 
no very great detriment to the business of the employers. But 
few will have the hardihood to deny that the demand for the 
ten-hour rule was a just one, — that the factory operatives of 
New England ought not to be confined to daily toil longer than 
those of Old England.-' 

On Febuary 16th, a branch of the Ancient Order of Hiber- 
nians, a mutual benefit society, was established here. 

On June 20th, 1867, died Abner W. Buttrick, for more than 
thirty years a prominent trader in Lowell. By his last will 
he bequeathed ten thousand dollars to Harvard University, to 
be used in assisting students for the Christian ministry. 

The Anniversary of American Independence was signalized, 
in 1867, by the dedication of the Statue of Victory — Dr. Ayer's 

* The first strike among factory operatives in the United States, occurred 
October 1st, 1838, when about three thousand Lowell factory girls left their 
work in the mills. 

18=^ 



210 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

gift to Lowell. The figure is that of a draped woman, of he- 
roic size, with wings, handing forth in her right hand the lau- 
rel wreath of victory, and holding in her left the harvest sheaf 
of peace. It stands in an appropriate spot, near the Monument 
which commemorates the first martyrs of the Eebellion. 

Appropriate addresses were delivered by Mayor Kichardson , 
Collector Russell, General Cogswell, General Underwood, and 
Postmaster Goodwin, and also by Dr. Ayer, who said : — 

" Wkile making the tovir of Europe, I could not help coutrasting the 
abundance of statues, columns, and other ])roductions ol art, which are there 
displayed for the pvihlic enjoyment, \A'ith the paucity of such objects in the 
United States ; and I devoted some time to find a figure in marble or bronze, 
which I could present to our city as a commencement of this kind of oi'na- 
mentation in Lowell. This figure was moulded by Ranch, the great Prussian 
sculptor, for the King of Bavaria. The originals, (for there is a pair of them,) 
in antique bronze, stand iu front of the Royal Palace at Munich,— one on 
each side of the way; but I do not think they are either as appropriate or as 
effective as this is here. The monument iu front of the Royal Palace at Ber- 
lin, erected to commemorate the triumph of the Prussians over Napoleon, 
was also executed by Ranch, both in marble and in bronze; and is consid- 
ered the greatest work of its kuid m the world." 

In 1867, Benjamin F. Butler, John Nesmith, and Dewitt C. 
Farringtou, their associates and successors, were incorporated as 
the Pentucket Navigation Company, for the purpose of freight- 
ing merchandise on the Merrimack Eiver between its mouth 
and the line of the State. 

On September 10th, 1867, the Middlesex Mechanics' Asso- 
ciation opened their third Exhibition, under the Superinten- 
dency of Hocum Hosford. The Committtee of Arrangements 
were, Samuel K. Hutchinson, (Chairman,) Silas Tyler, Junior, 
(Secretary,) James B. Francis, T. F. Burgess, T. G. Gerrish, 
F. H. Nourse, N. G. Furnald, George F. Richardson, William 
D. Blanchard, J. G. Peabody, H. H. Wilder, Abiel Pevey, 
W. F. Salmon, Z. E. Stone, Jeremiah Clark, William Nichols, 
Cyrus H. Latham, 0. E. Cushing, Charles Kimball and Wil- 
liam 0. Fiske. The Exhibition closed October 16th, having 
been visited by more than one hundred and twenty thousand 
persons. Over fifteen hundred persons, residents of twelve 







STATUE OF VICTOUY. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 211 

States, contributed to this exhibition, wbicb was one of the 
best ever held in New England."' 

On October 8th, Major-General Sheridan visited Lowell, 
and was honored with an enthusiastic reception in Monument 
Square. A battalion of veterans of the army and navy formed 
part of his escort. It consisted of five companies extempor- 
ized for the occasion, and contained many who had served 
under Sheridan in the field. 

On December 18th, 1867, a National Convention of Amer- 
ican Manufacturers assembled at Cleveland, Ohio, and rec- 
ommended to Congress the abolition of all taxation on the 
necessary domestic industries of the country, and the imposition 
of taxation on the luxuries of life. These recommendations 
were cordially indorsed by a Convention of the New*England 
Manufacturers, in Worcester, January 22nd, 1868. Until 
now, the manufacturers of the country had struggled to im- 
prove their prospects by crowding the lobbies of Congress and 
clamoring for protective tariffs. After fifty years of failure, 
they at last discovered that " that way no glory lies." Forget- 
ting their former narrowness, and rising to higher and broader 
views, they now asked for such legislation only as would benefit 
all classes and not merely themselves. The adoption of these 
enlarged and enlightened views by these great representative 
bodies, marks an important epoch in the history of American 
Manufactures. 

More than a third of a century has now elapsed since Chev- 
alier wrote : — 

"Lowell, with its steeple-crowned factories, resembles a Spanish town 
with its convents ; hut with this difference, that in Lowell yon meet no rags 
nor Madonnas, and that the nuns of Lowell, instead of working sacred 
hearts, spin and weave cottons-. Lowell is not amusing, but it is neat, de- 
cent, peaceable, and sage. Will it always be so? AVill it be so long? It 
would be rash to affirm it ; hitherto, the life of manufacturing operatives has 
proved little favorable to the preservation of severe morals. So it has been 
in France, as well as in England, Germany and Switzerland." 

* A full report of it has been published. 



212 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

It is probable that manufacturing pursuits are unfavorable 
to tbe preservation of severe morals ; but, here, the process of 
deterioration has been kept in check, heretofore, by the ever 
changing character of our operatives. Now that our operative 
population has become less migratory, the dark forebodings of 
the amiable Frenchman may be realized. But we trust not. 
In view of the possibility of so -direful a change, we would 
exclaim, in the emphatic words of good old Abraham Cowley : 

•' Come the eleventh plagiie rather than this should be, 
Come rather sink lis in the sea. 
Come pestilence and mow us down, 
Come God's sword rather than our own." 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



213 



NECEOLOGY OF LOWELL. 



" Their name, their age, spelt by the unlettered muse, 
The place of fame and elegy supply." 

It is astonishing that any civilized commonwealth should 
continue, as Massachusetts did, generation after generation, 
with no public registry of deaths that was worthy of the name. 
Prior to 1833, our necrological records were meagre in the 
extreme. Few as were the men who lived and died within 
the present limits of Lowell, previous to that year, we have no 
record of half of them ; and some, perhaps, are forgotten, who 
were more remarkable (as Sir Thomas Brown would say) '* than 
any that stand remembered in the known account of time." 

Captain Ford, the lumber manufacturer, died in 1822, at 
the age of 82 ; Joel Spaulding, the farmer, in 1823, at 81 ; 
Moses Hale, the pioneer manufacturer, in 1828, at 63 ; Ben- 
jamin Melvin, in 1830, at 77; Eev. Alfred V. Bassett, (some- 
time teacher) in 1831, at 25 ; Simon Parker, in 1832, at 74; 
Joel Lewis, the teacher, in 1834, at 34 ; Phineas Whiting, in 
1835, at 68 ; and Jacob Hale, in 1836, at 70. In 1836, also 
died Eeuben Hills, teacher, and Elisha Glidden, lawyer. And 
here we begin our more formal record of the deaths of some 
of those best known among Lowellians — excluding those whose 
deaths have already been mentioned in this history. 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


1837— Jan. 30 


Nathaniel D Healey 


24 


Teacher 


April 5 


Artemas Young 


52 


Manufacturer 


Aug. 8 


Frances Ames 


74 


Widow of Fisher 


Aug. 31 


Benjamin Butterfleld 


78 


Farmer 


1838— March 2 


Jeremiah Mason 


68 


Manufacturer 


Aug. 5 


John Kimball 


40 


Deputy Sheriff 


1839— April 1 


Benjamin Pierce 


82 


Politician* 



* Governor of New Hampshire; father of President Pierce. 



214 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Date 



Name 



A^e 



Description 



1839— June 7 


Horatio Boy den 


40 


Manufacturer 




Samuel H. Mann 


56 


Lawyer 


1840— Sept. 7 


Benjamin Walker 


39 


Butcher 


Sept. 26 


Albert Locke 


33 


Lawyer 


Nov. 1 


Alvali Mansur 


40 


Trader 


1841— April 2 


Daniel Pearson 


62 


Operative 


April 27 


John Adams 


45 


Auctioneer 


1842— May 5 


Jane Atkinson 


81 


WidoAV of Benj. 


Sept. 26 


Robert Means 


56 


Agent 


Dec. 5 


Moses Shattuck 


59 


Superintendent 


1843— May 5 


William Paul 


47 


Designer 


Sept. 17 


Mark T Gilman 


43 


Paymaster 


Dec. 10 


Luther Marshall 


62 


Farmer 


1844— Feb. 16 


Zadock Rogers 


70 


Farmer 


Oct. 14 


James W Brady 


55 


Dyer 


Nov. 11 


George Pollock 


52 


Book Keeper 


1845— May 18 


E M Farrar 


37 


Trader 


Oct. 15 


Arza L Witt 


35 


Pliysician 


Dec. 12 


William Duesbury 


57 


Apothecary 


1846— March 5 


Nathan Wright 


85 


Farmer 


March 18 


Catherine L Patch * 


34 


Widow of William 


June 23 


John G Tuttle 


44 


Clergyman 


1847— June 21 


James Dugdale 


65 


Manufacturer 


April 13 


George Gillis 


46 




Aug. 28 


Roswell Douglass 


43 


Manufticturer 


Sept. 24 


William Cowley 


25 


Manufacturer 


Sept. 30 


Nathaniel Wright 


27 


Lawyer 




Jesse Phelps 


47 


Overseer 


1848— June 22 


Robert McKinley 


44 


Block Printer 


Sept. 26 


Peleg Bradley 


56 


Dracut Physician 


Sept. 27 


William Kitchen 


69 


Carpet Weaver 




John R Adams 




Law^yer 


Dec. 18 


Jonathan Bowers 


59 


Lumber Trader 


1849— June 7 


Benjamin F Aiken 


45 


Merchant 


Aug. 9 


Ezra Sheldon 


47 


Contractor 


Sept. 5 


James Russell 


63 


Died of Cholera 


Sept. 1 


John Butterlield 


32 


Prof, of Medicine 


Sept. 10 


Nathaniel Goodwin 


66 


Clerk 


Nov. 19 


Edmund L LeBreton 


45 


Agent 


1850— March 1 


David C Scobey 


35 


Teacher 


March 21 


Samuel Farsou 


59 


Farmer 


April 4 


James Stott 


55 


Manufacturer 


May 17 


Nathan Durant 


46 


Trader 


June 11 


George A Butterfield 


31 


Lawyer 


June 26 


William Johnson 


47 


Cabinet Maker 


1851— March 4 


Samuel Gibby 


69 


Block Cutter 


March 4 


David Robinson 


75 




April 7 


John Baron 


50 


Inn Keeper 


April 21 


Abner H Brown 




Physician 



Missionary; died at Cape Palmas, West Africa. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



215 



Date 



Name 



Age Description 



1851— April 26 


William Wade 


69 


Wood Measurer 


June 12 


Jacob Carlton 


51 


Machinist 


Aug. 4 


John T Dodge 


26 


Clerk 


Aug. 20 


James Fisher 


70 


Yeoman 


Sept. 3 


Charles H Barber 


56 




Sept. 23 


Christopher Baron 


63 




Nov. 12 


Edmund Hauscom 


39 


Trader 


1852— April 2 


Thomas S Hutchinson 


35 


Printer 


June 8 


Alexander Wright 


52 


Agent 


June 9 


Otis H Morrill 


36 


Teacher 


July 3 


Kobert Hope 


47 


Dyer 


Aug. 2 


Emerson Melvin 


57 


Beer Maker 


Aug. 7 


Isaac Scripture 


51 


Baker 


Sept. 3 


Owen M Donahoe 


43 


Inn Keeper 


Oct. 28 


James Sharpies 


74 


Manufacturer 


Oct. 30 


David Trull 


80 


Stone Layer 


Nov. 4 


Philip T White 


44 


Tailor 


Dec. 5 


Charles Bent 


63 


Hatter 


Dec. 22 


William H Sweetser 


41 




1853— April 7 


Jonas W Packard 


40 


Manufacturer 


April 28 


Robert Gardner 


67 


Trader 


May 1 


Henry J Baxter 


50 


Tailor 


May 16 


Benjamin F French 


61 


Banker 


May 21 


Moses Cheever 


86 


Farmer 


May 30 


Joseph Hutchins 


36 


Inn Keeper 


May 30 


Lawrence Hill 


60 


Blacksmith 


July 9 


J Davidson Tatom 


52 


Machinist 


Sept. 23 


Allen Haggett 


45 


Ticket Master 


Oct. 6 


Thomas P Goodhue 


50 


Post Master 


Oct. 16 


William Paul 


63 


Operative 


Oct. 21 


Prentice Gushing 


6Q 


Machinist 


Oct. 24 


Edward Everett 


33 


Designer 


Nov. 6 


Augustus M Wyman 


42 




Nov. 20 


Jonas Reed 


69 




Nov. 22 


Farwell Puffer 


47 


Card Manufacturer 


Nov. 21 


Nathan C Crafts 


57 


Operative 


1854— Jan. 25 


Daniel Billings 


74 


Carpenter 


Jan. 27 


William Gilmore 


34 


Overseer 


Jan. 31 


Alfred Whittle 


44 


Reed Maker 


Feb. 7 


Elisha Stratton 


56 


Shop Keeper 


Feb. 21 


Thomas D Smith 


47 


Engraver 


March 11 


Horatio N Hudson 


37 


Engineer 


March 15 


David W Grimes 


54 


Mechanic 


March 20 


Cummings Barr 


59 


Stone Layer 


April 23 


Dayton R Ball 


29 


Trader 


May 9 


Leonard H Coburn 


26 


Trader 


June 3 


Asa Farr 


71 


Trader 


June 8 


Samuel Garland 


62 


Woodturner 


June 8 


George U Stone 


59 


Physician 



216 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


1854— June 22 


Roclolphus ^Y Sisson 


45 


Apothecary 


June 2G 


James C Crombie 


40 


Operative 


July 1 


Timothy Weeks 


53 




July 5 


John Varley 


70 


Mechanic 


July 30 


Aaron H Sherman 


55 


Mechanic 


Aug. 1 


Jeremiah Taylor 


55 


Shop Keeper 


Aug. 9 


Isaac Guild 


60 




Aug. 12 


Uzziah C Burnap 


60 


Clergyman 


Aug. 14 


Addison Brastow 


69 


Watchmaker 


Aug. 21 


Edward Roper 


44 


Manufacturer 


Sept. 4 


Nathan Russ 


75 




Sept. 7 


Zaccheus Shed 


60 


Constable 


Sept. 23 


Perez Richmond 


69 


Manufacturer 


Oct. 12 


Francis Hudson 


84 




Oct. 14 


Cliarles McDermott 


70 


Agent 


Oct. 20 


John McDonald 


69 


Manufacturer 


Nov. 15 


Elisha Adams 


36 


Butcher 


Nov. 24 


William Bell 


54 


Trader 


Nov. 27 


John Benthal 


51 


Trader 


Dec. 16 


Windsor Howe 


69 


Manufacturer 


1855 — Jan. 3 


Elmira W Bradley 


25 


Teacher 


Feb. 17 


John Mason 


84 


Yeoman 


Feb. 28 


Reuben Gale 


80 


Yeoman 


March 2 


Jacob Jenness 


49 


Trader 


April 18 


Francis Rogers 




Lost in the Albany 


Mav 5 


Moses Kidder 


m 


Physician 


May 23 


Elisha Ford 


77 


Surveyor of Land 


May 20 


Thomas Bixby 


80 


Tanner 


June 3 


Jacob Matthews 


75 


Clergyman 


June 21 


Betsey Cox 


83 






Nancy H Green 




Teacher 


Julv 8 


Daniel S Littlchale 


31 


Engineer 


JulV 8 


Beniamin F Holden 


38 


Assessor 


July 25 


William L Day 


52 


Wheelwright . 


Aug. 13 


Simeon Spaulding 


79 


Farmer 


Aug. 29 


John G Pillsbury 


37 


Printer 


Sept. 28 


Jonathan Allen 


40 


Bookbinder 


Oct. 8 


Oliver G Whipple* 


24 


Manufacturer 


Oct. 13 


Timothy O'Brien 


63 


Clergyman 


Oct. 24 


Thomas Crossley 


74 


Trader 


Nov. 1 


Asahel Gilbert Jr 


36 


Trader 


Dec. 21 


John D Pillsbury 




Physician 


1856— Jan. 12 


Thomas Scotchburn 


67 


Rope Maker 


Jan. 20 


John Bates 


54 


Calico Printer 


Jan. 29 


Tohn Little 


67 


Manufacturer 


Feb. 13 


Simeon Moors 


62 


Farmer 


Feb. 24 


Benjamin Parker 


53 


Farmer 


Feb. 29 


Thomas Boynton 


81 


Farmer 


March 2 


Temperance Thomas 


104 


Widow 



' Killed by a powder-mill explosion, at Gorham, Maine. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



217 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


185G— March 7 


John Trull 


5G 


Stone Worker 


April 8 


William Cotter 


38 


Clerk 


April 11 


Ira Spalding 


52 


Housewright 


May 11 


Joseph Bradshaw 


80 


Straw Worker 


May 30 


Thomas Dodge 


67 


Machinist 


July 26 


David Dana 


59 


Plumber 


Aug. 6 


Ezra Adams 


84 


Farmer 


Sept. 3 


Benjamin H Shepard 


35 


Trader 


Sept. 4 


John Brierly 


81 


Laborer 


Sept. 3 


Catherine Mungau 


108 


WidoAV 


Sept. 22 


William H Gage ■ 


37 


Shop Keeper 


Oct. 26 


Walker Lewis 


58 


Barber 


Nov. 3 


Joseph B Gage 


30 




Nov. 9 


Robert T Tremlett 


32 


Accountant 


Nov. 21 


Theodore Butterfield 


62 


Farmer 


. Nov. 21 


Joseph Merrill 


G8 


Clergyman 


Nov. 20 


Lewis Packard 


67 


Manufacturer 


1857— Jan. 2D 


Frederick Parker 


43 


Lawyer 


Jan. 2G 


Robert Anderson 


50 


Carpenter 


Jan. 24 


Lewis W Lawrence 


40 


Machinist 


March 1 


Nathaniel Critchett 


46 


Shoedealer 


Marcii 3 


George H Carleton 


52 


Apothecary 


March 17 


Jonathan M Marston 


50* 


Restorateur 


May 18 


Landon Adams 


56 


Manufacturer 


June 19 


Ira Frye 


58 


Clerk 


June 22 


Henry Whiting 


35 


Physician 


July G 


Michael Roach 


G5 


Undertaker 


Sept. 6 


Oliver March 


48 


Bookseller 


Sept. 19 


William L xVyling 


41 


Comedian 


Oct. 7 


Benjamin F Foster 


45 


Farmer 


Nov. 22 


John Allen 


55 


Physician 


Nov. 2G 


Benjamin F Nealley 


41 


Grocer 


18.58— Jan. 23 


llenr^y A Pierce 


24 


Journalist 


Jan. 24 


Eunice Green 


86 


M^other (tf Dr. J 


March 2 


Larkin Moors 


85. 


Cordwainer 


April G 


Israel Hildreth 


68 


Dracut Physician 


April 14 


Tisdale Lincoln 


71 


Trader 


April 26 


Joseph B Giles. 


52 


Writing Master 


May 7 


Mary Burnet 


98 


Spinster 


July 2(^ 


Stephen Weymouth 


53 


Watchman 


Autr. 22 


Ira B Pearsons 


41 


Lawyer 


Sept. 20 


Eldad Fox 


49 


Carpet Weaver 


Sept. 23 


Edward Winslow 


62 




Oct. 5 


'Sarah C Livermore 


81 


Widow of Judge L 


Nov., a 


Nathaniel Wright* 


75 


Lawyer 


Dec, 8 


Moses M Tuxbury 


66 


Farmer 



* Mr. Wright was the first member from Lowell in eithei branch of the 
State Legislature, and afterward Mayor. He was an able lawyer, and had . 
an extensive practice at Pawtucket FaUs befpre the building of Lowell. 



19 



218 



HISTORY OF LOWELL 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


1858— Dec. 24 


Isaiah W Pelsue 


53 


Watchman 


1859— Jan. 29 


Timothy Frye 


63 


Clerk 


March 10 


Hazen Elliott 


('>2 


Assessor 


March 17 


John Adams 


73 




April 6 


Daniel Varnum 


69 


Farmer 


April 12 


Alanson J Richmond 


39 


Manufacturer 


May 17 


George Teel 


73 


City Crier 


June 20 


Patrick Manice 


56 


Fisherman 


June 22 


Varnum Balcom 


i^Q' 


Carpenter 


June 23 


Joseph M Dodge 


67 


Carpenter 


June 24 


Aaron Mansur 


83 




July 18 


William F Johnson 




Comedian 


July 22 


William 11 Hobson 


25 


Engraver 


Aug-. 13 


Amos Woodbury 


59 


Carpenter 


Aug. 24 


William R Barker 


46 


Shop Keeper 


Aug. 30 


William Atherton 


51 


Mechanic 


Oct. 21 


Daniel R Kimball 


53 


Stable-keeper 


Oct. 22 


Ebenezer Fifleld 


78 


Farmer 


Oct. 31 


Samuel W Brown 


55 


Superintendent 


Nov. 7 


Oliver C Prescott 


32 


Mason 


Nov. 11 


Samuel J Varney 


46 


Journalist 


Nov. 14 


Thc^mas Ordway 


72 


City Clerk 


Dec. 19 


Charles Maynard 


49 


Shop Keeper 


1860— Jan. 31 


Thomas Yeoman 


82 


Manulacturer 


Feb. 19 


Joseph Svveetser 


73 


Baker 


Feb. 19 


Richard Dennis 


57 


Machinist 


April 10 


Tristam Barnard 


94 


Farmer 


May 29 


Asa G Loomis 


50 


Collector 


June 19 


Joshua L Conant 


59 


Yeoman 


July r, 


Joshua Roberts 


70 


R. R. Agent 


July 14 


Nicholas G Norcross 


54 


Lumber Trader 


Aug. 21 


Joseph Hovey 


76 


Farmer 


Au^ 26 


Timothy McLaughlin 


42 


Trader 


Oct. 17 


Andrew Barr 


61 


Tailor 


Oct. 23 


Israel Cheney 


72 


Musician 


Dec. 17 


Sextus Sawtell 


34 


Musician 




Michael O'Brien 


96 




1861— Jan. 5 


Susan Webster 


89 


Widow 


Jan. 10 


Jemima Rogers 


83 


Widow of Zadoe 


Jan. 10 


Janet Wright 


84 


Mother of Alex'r 


Feb. 28 


Abraham Howe 


72 


Carpenter 


Feb. 10 


Leonard W Jaquith 


45 1 


Ag«^nt 


March 16 


Daniel West 


54 


Trader 


March 16 


Stephen C Moar 


80 


Farmer 


March 22 


Martha M Cox 




Teacher 


March 27 


Royal Call 


61 


Phvsician 


March 28 


Susan Moody 


80 


Widow of Paul 


March 30 


Reuben Butterfield 


78 


Farmer 


May 16 


Otis Cutler 


59 


Cordwainer 


May 16 


Hiram Hersey 


56 


Victualer 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



219 



Date 



Name 



Age Description 



1861— May 24 


Moses Cheever 


68 


Teamster 


May 30 


William Goding 


62 


Manufacturer 


May 31 


Joseph Gray 




Clergyman 


June 21 


Charles N Dolloff 




Lost in the Levant 


Aug. 1 


Myron Allen 


30 


Physician 


Aug. 5 


Thomas Hopkins 


86 


Clergyman 


Aug. 27 


Joseph Jenkiusou 


38 


Barber 


Sept. 27 


Elhanan W Scott 


36 


Machinist 


Oct. 10 


Amos Merriam 


68 


Assessor 


Oct. 17 


Edward A Staniels 


40 


Apothe€ary 


Xov. 12 


Levi E Lincoln 


46 


Apothecary 


Dec. 17 


Thomas Brophy 


65 


Hatter 


1862— Jan. 12 


David Thissell 


60 


Farmer 


Jan. 16 


Harrison G Blaisdell 


40 


Lawyer 


Feb. 2 


James T McDermott 


55 


Clergyman 


Feb. 9 


John Bowers 


69 


Farmer 


Feb. 17 


Luther S Cheney 


39 


Victualer 


Feb. 19 


George W Bean 


57 


Insurance Agent 


Feb. 22 


James Patterson 


67 


Wool Bayer 


March 9 


John I) Prince 


48 


Manufacturer 


April 12 


Benjamin Livingston 


73 


Farmer 


April 20 


Willi am Bradley 


69 


Dver 


April 30 


Patrick Lannau 


85 


Trader 


May 1 


A])ram T Holbrook 


57 


Conductor 


lAlaV 2 


James P Appleton 


51 


Sign Painter 


Miiy 18 


David llogers 


54 


Stabler 


May 24 


ZacharialfB Caverly 


40 


Minister to Lima 


May 25 


Horatio Bradley 


57 


Ticket Agent 


May 25 


Charles Smith 


53 


Overseer 


June 11 


Jesse Stiles 


56 


Overseer 


Aug. 29 


Otis L Allen 


52 


Trader 


Aug. 4 


Joseph Parker 


80 


Auctioneer 


Sept. 2 


Matthevv' F Worthen 


57 


Machinist 


Sept. 14 


Calvin Woodward 


54 


Trader 


Sept. 20 


Darwin Mott 


39 


Clergyman 


Sept. 27 


William Spencer 


59 


Agent 


Sept. 30 


John S AYyman 


52 


Mechanic 


Oct. 28 


W il 1 iam cVee nh al gh 


53 


Engraver 


Nov. 3 


riiomas Lovett 


82 


Carpenter 


Nov. 19 


Mertoun C Bryant 


39 


Agent 


Nov. 24 


Charles L Tiklen 


55 


Agent 


1863— Jan. 10 


David Grover 


49 


Operative 


Jan. 10 


Andrew Gates 


82 


British Soldier * 


Jan. 26 


rimothy G Tweed 


54 


Butcher 


Feb. 16 j 


Charles' M Short 


63 


Grocer 



* Fought at Corunna under Moore, and at Waterloo under Wellington, 
uud was one of the twelve grenadiers who bore the remains of Napoleon to 
his grave at St. Helena. Several other Waterloo veterans closed their ca- 
reers in Lowell. 



220 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


1863— April 9 


Charles A Davis 




Physician 


May 9 


Amos Hyde 


59 


Machinist 


June 19 


Benjamin Mather 


87 


Surveyor 


June 21 


Leonard Woods 


63 


Machinist 


July 7 


Darwin D Baxter 


52 


Trader 


July 20 


AVilliam H Goding 


40 


Manufacturer * 


July 20 


Ira Bisbee 


49 


Machinist* 


July 24 


Hiram A Alger 


37 


Lawyer 


Aug. 8 


Catherine Wittie 


101 




Aug. 8 


Artemas Holden 


87 


Cooper 


Aug. 25 


Lizzie Emmons 




Actress 


Sept. 30 


David R Kirby 


51 


Brakeman 


Nov. 1 


Frank C Huntington 


33 


N. Y. Merchant 


Nov. 22 


Otis Per ham 


51 


Physician 


Nov. 27 


David Tapley 


55 


Trader 


Dec. 30 


Amos R Boynton 


.49 


Physician 


1864— Jan. 7 


George Bingham 


43 


Trader 


Jan. 8 


Daniel Cass 


76 


Dentist 


Jan. 14 


Andrew J Butler 


48 


Trader 


Jan. 18 


Charles E Brazer 


36 


Clerk 


Jan. 19 


George Miller 


42 


Engraver 


Jan. 22 


Samuel Stone 


72 


Trader 


Feb. 23 


Abel Patten 


59 


Clergjnnan 


Feb. 24 


James 8 (^Icott 


62 


Physician 


March 15 


James Duxbury 


72 


Engraver 


April 4 


Elijah L Cole 


48 


Physician 


April 17 


Jonathan Spalding 


89 


Farmer 


April 17 


Adin Ho J brook 


84 


Manufacturer 


April 17 


Josiah F Evans 


45 


Tailor 


April 21 


Paul Hills 


76 


Farmer 


May 6 


Bryan Morse 


81 


Clergyman 


May 9 


Royal T Hazeltine 


58 


Carpenter 


May 10 


Zadoc Wilkius 


82 


Capt. in 1812 Wat- 


May 11 


Dean Penniman 


63 


Trader 


May 15 


Cyril French 


74 


Trader 


May 17 


Samuel Abbott 


52 


Dentist 


May 28 


Daniel S Wait 


49 


Carpenter 


May 29 


J Wallace Thomas 


29 


Comedian 


June 5 


George Briggs 


57 


Mechanic 


June 7 


James H B Aver 


76 


Clerk 


June 23 


A Waldo Fisher 


70 


Machinist 


July 8 


John Avery 


64 


Agent 


July 8 


Isaac Anthony 


77 


Machinist 


July 9 


Franklin Webster 


49 


Farmer 


July 19 


David M G Cutier 


55 


Mechanic 


July 22 


Nathan Hanson 


86 


Mechanic 


Aug. 7 


Benjamin Brown 


82 


Farmer 


Aug. 14 


John Buttrick 


69 


Carpenter 



Killed with three others by the explosion of a steam boiler. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



221 



Date 



Name 



Age 



Description 



1864— Aug. 15 


William Wyman 


82 


Yeoman 


Aug. 20 


George Pierce 


68 


Physician 


Aug-. 24 


Josephine S Pearson 


20 


Teacher 


Sept. 4 


Perley Parker 


68 


Yeoman 


Sept. 24 


Zacloc Kogers 


59 


Farmer 


Oct. 12 


William A Lamb 


34 


Clerk 


Oct. 15 


Isaac W Scribner 


57 


Physician 


Oct. 18 


Rufus Wilkins 


57 


Butcher 


Oct. 18 


Henry D C Griswold 


46 


Watchmaker 


Oct. 30 


Joshua Thissell 


72 


Farmer 


Oct. 


Jeremiah Kidder 


48 


Trader 


Oct. 


Lemuel Porter 




Clergyman 
Manufacturer 


Nov. 19 


Aaron Cowley 


65 


Nov. 21 


Deliverance Woodward 


79 


Farmer 


Nov. 6 


Lizzie A Pinder 


24 


Teacher 


Dec. 26 


Dennis Crowley * 


67 


Mechanic 


1865 — Jan. 4 


James W Boynton 


39 


Coal Dealer 


Jan. 25 


Joshua Melviu 


72 


Physician 


Feb. 10 


Jonathan Weeks 


61 


Clerk 


March 12 


James W Kershaw 


36 


Trader 


March 12 


Peter Povvers 


59 


Mason 


Marcli 21 


James Leavitt 


60 




April 3 


James Denjiis 


57 


Machinist 


April 10 


Charles Walker 


33 


Physician 


April 14 


Alanson Crane 


55 


Manufacturer 


April 19 


William D Vinal 


55 


Dentist 


April 23 


Francis E Hicks 


33 


Clergyman 


May 10 


John Earle 


83 


Yeoman 


May 22 


William A Swan 


63 


Mason 


June 20 


Noah F Gates 


48 


Assessor 


June 22 


Joshua Mather 


60 


Manufacturer 


July 3 


Caleb Livingston 


60 


Trader 


Jiilv 9 


Joseph Manahan 


67 


Trader 


Aug-. 6 


Joshua Bennett 


72 


Billerica Capitalist 


Aug. 9 


Charles Sherwin 


61 


Manufacturer 


Aug. 13 


William Wagner 


93 


Weaver 


Aug. 26 


Samuel P Buttrick 


52 


Carpenter 


Sept. 2 


Harvey Snow 




Mechanic 


Sept. 6 


John Bennett 


76 


Surveyor 


Oct. 9 


Nathan Buttrick 


55 


Carpenter 


Oct. 14 


James K Devvhurst 


69 


Block Cutter 


Oct. 30 


Edwin L Shed 


42 


Deputy Sheriff 


Nov. 1 


J Wheelock Patch 


27 


Trader 


Nov. 18 


Patrick P Campbell 


62 


Physician 


Dec. 25 


Elmira B Stanton 


28 


Teacher 


186G~Jan. 27 


John Whitney 


69 


Manufacturer 


Jan. 29 


Daniel P Bradley 


70 


Farmer 


Feb. 3 


Benjamin Paige 


56 


Manufacturer 



* One of the first Irishmen that settled in Lowell ; came in 1S23. 



222 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Date 



Name 



Age 



Description 



1866— Feb. 3 


Henry C Gray 


30 


Expressman * 


Feb. 5 


John McAlvin 


6C 


Farmer 


Feb. 5 


Henry L C Newton 


43 


Printer 


Feb. 7 


Mahlon Snow 


G7 


Farmer 


Feb. 13 


James Thompson 


Go 


Physician 


Feb. 24 


Thomas Charnley 


84 




March 20 


Jonathan Knowles 


86 


Operative 


May 9 


Daniel H Dean 


61 


Trader 


May 21 


Benjamin P Rogers ' 


52 


Farmer 


May 23 


Lyclia Wood 


GS 


Shop Keeper 


May 24 


John Green 


GS 


Gardener 


June 23 


Amos Hull 


68 


Undertaker 


July 2 


Horace Howard 


64 


Coal Dealer 


July 17 


Mehitable Allen 


93 


Mother,Dr.N Alki 


July 18 


Richard P Mercer 


66 


Overseer 


Aug. 6 


Alonzo T Davis 


55 


Cap Maker 


Sept. 3 


Perez Fuller 


69 


Tailor 


Oct. 12 


George C Smith 


59 


Bolt Maker 


Nov. 2 


Charles Churchill 


52 


Trader 


Nov. 7 


Henry Smith 


69 


Trader 


Nov. 11 


David M Erskine 


59 


Trader 


Nov. 18 


Benjamin Dean 


72 


Engraver 


Dec. 7 


Asa Wetherbee 


81 


Carpenter 


Dec. 18 


James Winterbottoni 


80 


Carpet Maker 


Dec. 22 


Zeuas Crowell 


62 


Overseer 


1867— Feb. 10 


John Aiken 


70 


Agent 


Feb. 28 


John A Rogers 


59 


Manufacturer 


March 2 


William D Mason 


74 


Mechanic 


March 2 


Hananiah Whitney 


75 


Trader 


March 23 


Benjamin Skeltou 


84 


Physician 


March 27 


Ransom Reed 


64 


Trader 


April 1 


Ivory Edwards 


60 


Mechanic 


April 6 


Jonathan M Allen 


53 


Prof, of Anatomy 


April 10 


Alfred E Nichols 


37 


Mechanic 


April 21 


Joshua Swan 


79 


Contractor 


April 23 


David Hyde 


50 


Broker 


May 19 


James Patterson 


63 


Manufacturer 


May 25 


Charles W Dodge 


41 


Trader 


June 15 


Susan Prince 


83 


Widow of John D 


June 24 


Joel Stone 


68 


Trader 


Sept. 1 


Jeremiah Garland 


77 


Trader 


Sept. 5 


Caleb Crosby 


61 


Mason 


Aug. 14 


Jonas Balcom 


84 


Carpenter 


Aug. 13 


Thomas Midgley 


50 


Overseer 


Oct. 6 


Stephen S Seavy 


53 


Trader 


Oct. 14 


Henry B Stanton Jr 


33 


Post Office Clerk 


Oct. 15 


Charles A Babcock 


52 


Agent 


Oct. 19 


William Smith 


77 


Lawyer 


Oct. 19 


Thomas Slater 


69 


Chaplain at Jail 



Filled by steamboat explosion near Vicksburg. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



223 



Date 


Name 


Age 


Description 


1867— Nov. 6 


Edward B Rawlings 


62 


Carpenter 


Nov. 7 


Josiah P Vickerj^ 


44 


Painter 


Nov. 27 


Joseph Derbyshire 


46 


Farmer 


Dec. 17 


Elias P Marsh 


58 


Manufacturer 


Dec. 15 


Matthew F Worthen 


21 


Accidentally Shot 


1868— Jan. 6 


John Wangh 


44 


Trader 


Jan. 19 


Bethuel T Thompson, 


50 


Trader 


Jan. 25 


George Crosby 


55 


Trader 


Jan. 27 


James Adams 


60 


Overseer 


Jan. 30 


Maynard Bragg 


71 


Mechanic 


Feb. 8 


James O'Neil 


102 


Had 98 descendants 


Feb. 18 


Henry Smith 


47 


Machinist * 


Feb. 19 


Thomas Wright 


55 


Lawyer 



LOWELL LEGISLATORS. 



The State Senators from Lowell have been given on page 
159. Our Representatives, too numerous to be named in the 
text, have been as follows :-— 



1826 and 1827— Nathaniel Wright. 

1828— Nathaniel Wright and Elisha Ford. 

1829— J. P. Robinson and J. S. C. Knowlton. 

1830— Kirk Boott, Joshua Swan, and J. P. llobinson. 

1831— Kirk Boott, Joshua Swan, J. P. Robinson, J. S. C. Knowl- 

ton and Eliphalet Case.f 
1832 — Ebeuezer Appleton, Arteraas Holden, 0. M. Whipple, Seth 

Ames, Maynard Brasrg, William Davidson and Willard 

Guild. 
1833— S. A. Coburn, J. P. Robinson, CVril French. Simon Adams, 

Jacob Kobbins, J. L. Sheafe, Jesse Fox, Royal Southwick, 

Joseph Tyler and Jonathan Spalding. 
1834 — Samuel Howard, Kirk Boott, James Chandler, Osgood 

Dane, Jesse Phelps and O. M. Whipple. (Eleven vacan- 
cies, no othei-s receiving a majority vote.) 

* Killed with two others by the explosion of a locomotive. 

t This Was the last regular session of the Legislature that was held in 
May. The regular sessions have since commenced in January, annually— 
the members being elected in the preceding November. • 



224 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



183o~Kirk Boott, A. W. Buttrick, James Chaudler, William Da- 
vidson, Artemas Holden, John Mixer, Matthias Parkhnrst, 
Alpheus Smith, Joseph Tyler, 0. M. Whipple, Benjamin 
Walker, William Wyman and J. A. Knowles. 

1836— William Austin, A. W. Fisher, H. AV. Hastings, Eoyal 
Southvvick, Aaron Mansur, Sidney Spalding, W. W. Wy- 
man, J. M. Marston, Stephen Mansur, Jonathan Tyler, J. 
L. Sheate, Alexander Wright, Jesse Fox, J. B. French, S. 
II. Marvin, E. D. Leavitt and James Chandler. 

1837 — J. W. Mansur, Stephen Goodhue, James Wilson, J. K. 
Fellows, W. S Merrill, J. G. Peabody, Jesse Clement, J. 
G. Abbott, J. M. Doe, W. N. Owen, Charles Hastings, G. 
K. Eastman, Samuel Clark, Samuel Willard, John Mead, 
Loring Pickering, llichard Fowler. 

1838--Jesse Fox, William North. Thomas Hopkinson, Jonathan 
Bowers, W. W. Wyman, J. M. Dodge, Perez Fuller, David 
Nourse, J. M. Marston. 

1839—0. M. Whipple, Joshua Swan, Edward Winslow, Royal 
Southwick, William Davis, Hazen Elliott, David Nourse, 
H. J. Baxter, Jesse Phelps. 

1840— Isaac Scripture, Jefferson Bancroft, Royal Southwick, 
Jesse Phelps, Nathaniel Wright, Alvah Mansur. 

1841— Elisha Bartlett, Jefferson Bancroft, Samuel Burbank, 
William Colton, Franklin Farrar, R. G. Colby, Pearson 
Titcomb, G. W. Wendell, Benjamin Wilde. 

1842— Jonathan Adams, Jonathan Tyler, E. F. Watson, Amos 
Hyde, Otis Allen, D. S. Richardson, J. L. Fitfcs, J. P. Rob- 
inson. Asa Hall. 

1843— J. T. Hardy, Henry Smith, Samuel Lawrence, Jonathan 
Tyler, James Tower, Abram Howe, Roswell Douglass, D. 
S. Richardson, (one vacancy.) 

1844— Joshua Swan, William Schouler, James Fenno, J. W. Hol- 
land, Daniel Balch, J. M. Dodge, J. A. Knowles, Franklin 
Farrar, J. L. Fitts. 

1845— S. P. Adams, George Bragdon, Isaac Cooper, Joseph 
Gritlin, Thomas Hopkinson, J. A. Knowles, John Mixer, 
Jesse Phelps, William Schouler. 

184G— C. W. Blanchard, Leonard Huntress, G.N.Nichols, Sidney 
Spalding, Benjamin Wilde, G. A. Buttertield, (three vacan- 
cies.) 

1847— D. S. Richardson, L. R. Winslow, Joshua Converse, Wm. 
Schouler, G. A. Butlerfield, Ziba Abbott, Arnold Welch, 
J. L. Tripp. 

184.8_]^:insom Reed, H. G. F. Corliss, James Feimo, Stephen 
Moar, S. W. Brown, Joel Powers, Sidney Spalding, Ben- 
jamin Green, Oilman Gale. 

1849— Homer Bartlett, Joseph Locke, H. G. F. Corliss, Stephen 
Moar, Sanmel Burbank, Ransom Reed, George Brownell, 
James Adams, IIoK'ce Parmenter. 

1850— George BrownelU Francis Bush, Stephen Mansur, D. P. 
Brigham, Samuel Burbank, James Dicsmoor, J. M. Bul- 
lens^ Jefferson Bancroft, William Ripley. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 225 



1851 — Tappan Wentworth, Joseph Bedlow, James Dinsmoor, 
George Gardner, John Maynard, Hannibal Powers, Silas 
Tyler, Francis Bush, Jefferson Bancroft, William Ripley. 

1852 — W. S. Robinson, Erastus Douglass, J. E. Farnsworth, 
Luther Eames, Luther B. Morse, Otis H. Morrill, J. K. 
Fellows, A. R. Brown, Sidney Spalding, (one vacancy.) 

1853 — L. B. Morse, W. S. Robinson, John S. Fletcher, Jonathan 
Page, Caleb Crosby, J. M. Hadley, B. F. Butler, Luther 
Fames, William Roby, (one vacancy.) 

1854 — Ira Spalding, Daniel Ayer, Benjamin Poole, Solon Stevens, 
James Towiisend, Daniel Holt,"^ S. J. Tuttle, A. B. Wright, 
John Smith, AVilliam Brown. 

1855— J. G. Peabodv, J. P. Jewett, Henry Phelps, Jr., Horace 
Howard, S. A^ Waters, S. W. Hanks, D. C. Eddy, Walter 
Buruham, Ransom Clifford, Weare Clifford. 

1856— Weare Clifford, C. F. Hard. Jonathan Johnson, L. J. 
Fletcher, A. B. Roby, Asa Hildreth, Jonathan Weeks, 
Caleb Crosby, Henry Phelps, Jr., J. M. Burtt. 

1857 — S. P. Adams, Alfred Gilman, Joshua Merrill, J. A. Good- 
win, I. L. Moore, Seth Pooler, J. S. Pollard, C. F. Hard, 
Ignatius Tyler, Noah Conant. 

1858— William G. Wise, Sullivan Tay, H. G. F. Corliss, S. K. 
Fielding, John C. Jepson, George Stevens. 

1859— M. A. Thomas, Sullivan Tay, John C. Woodward, T. Went- 
worth, Walter Burnham, John A. Goodwin. 

1860— Stephen P. Sargent, David Nichols, Jeremiah Clark, Tap- 
pan Wentworth, Noah F. Gates, John A. Goodwin. 

1861 — Stephen P. Sargent, David Nichols, Jeremiah Clark, Hap- 
good Wright, Nathaniel B. Favor, John A. Goodwin. 

1862— Paul Hill, Samuel W. Stickney, Sewall G. Mack, Ilapgood 
Wright, Josiah B. French, Edward F. Sherman. 

1863— Pauf Hill, Lorenzo G. Howe, Frederic Holton, Tappan 
Wentworth, John A. Butlrick, Joshua N. Marshall. 

1864— Jacob Rogers, Lorenzo G. Howe, Frederic Holton, Tappan 
Wentworth, George W. Partridge, Joshua N. Marshall. 

1865— Jacob Rogers, William T. McNeill, Sullivan L. Ward, Hor- 
ace J. x4Ldams, John F. Manahan, Zina E. Stone. 

1866— Foster Wilson, Lorenzo D. Cogswell,* Sullivan L. Ward, 
Hocum Hosford, John F. Manahan, Zina E. Stone. 

1867— Andrew F. Jewett, Charles A. Stott, Oliver W. Smith, 
John F. Manahan, Edward F. Sherman. 

1868— James B. Francis, Benjamin J.Williams, Oliver W. Smith, 
Josiah Gates, William McFarlin. 

* William T. aicNeill received the origuial cei'tificate of election, but Mr. 
Cogswell successfully contested the seat. 



226 HISTORY OF LOWELL. 

LOWELL NAVAL OFFICERS IN SEEVICE DURING 
THE REBELLION. 



Ames, Pelliam W., Paymaster of the Connecticut. 

Bancroft, Kirk Henry, Surgeon of the Iosco ; bombardments of 
Fort Fisiier. 

Birtwliistle, James, Master of the Madawaska. 

Boynton, James A., Engineer of the Cornubia. 

Brown, William S., Engineer of tlie Canonicus ; bombardments 
of Fort Fisher; occupation of Charleston. 

Colby, Edward P., Surgeon of the William G. Anderson. 

Cowley, Charles, Paj-master of the Lehigh : Eleet-Judge-Advo- 
cate. Staff of Admiral Dahlgren ; two days' bombardment of 
Fort Sumter; eight daj^s' bombardment of Fort Pemberton 
and the batteries on the Stono; battles of Honey Hill and 
Gregory's Landing; occupation of Savannah and Cliarles- 
ton ; * blown up in Santee River by a torpedo, whicli de- 
stroyed Dahlgren's Flagship, Harvest Moon; reconuoitering 
expedition to Cuba. 

De Arville, Louis, Engineer of the Fort Donelson. 

Dennis, William H., Assistant, Coast Survey. 

Eaton, Joseph G, Midshipman. 

Fuller, Darius A., Engineer of the luka. 

Francis, George E., Surgeon of the Ouichita. 

Fox, Gustavus V., Lieutenant; Assistant Secretary; expeditions 
to Fort Sumter and Russia. 

Garabedian, Hetchadore P., Engineer of the Geranium. 

Garrigan, Michael, Engineer of the Malvern; bombardments of 
Fort Fisher. 

Guild, Charles F., Ensign; Secretary to Admiral Porter; all Por- 
ter's engagements on the Mississippi and at Fort Fisher: 
noAv Paymaster in the regular Navy. 

Guild, Charles M., Paymaster of the Shenandoah; bombardments 
of Fort Fisher; still in the service, in the iVsiatic Squadron, 

Gilmore, John D., Engineer of the Cherokee. 

Lawrence, Alvin, Engineer of the Glaucus. 

*Had the attack on Fort JohnsoD, Sunday morniug, .July 4th, 1804, been 
directed by a competent officer, Charleston would have been occupied eight 
months earlier. Two regiments of mfantry and two sections of artillery 
were carried to James Island in boats, which were to have left Morris Island 
at two o'clock in the morning, but were delayed till four o'clock. The delay 
was fatal. The attacking colamn was repulsed, and the number killed 
wounded or captured exceeded the entire garrison of the fort. Among the 
Naval officers accompanjdng the storming column was the author of this 
work, who was there wounded. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 227 



Lawrence, George, Paymaster of the Pawnee; eight daj^s' bom- 
bardment of Fort Pemberton and the batteries on Stono 
River, near Charleston. 

Lawrence, George W., Engineer of the Malvern. 

Lawson, Frederick B., Surgeon of the Hunts ville. 

Leavitt, Erasmus D., Jr., Engineer of the Sagamore; cai)turc of 
Appalachicola; bombardments of Tampa, Cliristabel River 
Batteries, and St. Andrews. 

Leavitt, William A., Engineer of the Nita; engagement with 
i)atteries on the Suwannee River. 

Long, James, Ensign. 

Marthou, Joseph, Master of the Hartford ; battle of Mobile Bay ; 
still in the service. 

McCracken, William, Mate. 

Mason, William, Engineer of the Quaker City. 

Maxfleld, James G., Apothecary of the Osceola. 

McDaniels, Thomas J., Engineer of th(.' Louisiana. 

O'Brien, James. Master of the Albatross. 

O'Hare, John, Mate; killed at Fort Fisher. 

Osgood, George C, Surgeon of the Chillicothe, 

Oates, John H., Mate of the Congress ; engagement with the 
Confederate ram Merrimac. 

Racao, Frederick W., E!i:i:iiieer of the Harvest Moon; occupa- 
tion of Charleston; blown up by a torpedo in the Sautee. 

Reenstjerua, Lars M., Engineer of the Aroostook. 

Riley, James, Engineer of the Tallahatchie. 

Scri'buer, James E., Engineer. 

Slocum, John P.. Engineer. 

Snell, Alfred T., now Lieutenant Commander of the Ticonderoga; 
bombardments of Sumter, Wagner and Fisher; battles of 
Balls' Bluft" and Mayport Mills; capture of Machias Point, 
Port Royal, Jacksonville and Fernandina; wrecked in the 
Glaucus. 

Vaile, John Henry, Engineer of the Lehigh. 

Wilder. Charles B., Lieutenant; killed in his boat by sharpshoot- 
ers, April 11, 1SG4. 

Wright, Emory, Paymaster of the R. R. Cuyler; bombardmentp 
of Fort Fisher.* 

*In the absence of authentic data, I have found it impossible to make 
this record perfect or complete. Almost every officer served on several 
different vessels in the course of the War; but the ship in which his most 
important service was rendered is the only one herein named. There were 
several naval officers concerning whom I could fmd no information at all. 

Of tlie many Lowell sailors who lost their lives in the Naval service, I have 
only been able to recover the names of Harvey S. Adams, James Brayton, 
Joseph Cheatham, Francis Corey, George Derbyshire, iMichael Dohany, 
Thomas Faulkner, David Marren, Jeremiah McCarty, Thomas JrcKenna, 
Thomas Moore, George F. Parks, Albert Paul, John Roach, David B. Tilton, 
Harrison A. Tweed, John Driscoll, John Chandler and Edward Garrity. 



228 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



LOWELL AEMY OEFICERS. 



THREE YEARS MEN. 



Abbott, Edward G., Capt. aud Brev. 

Mai., A, 2; killed at Cedar Moun- 
tain, August 9th, 1862. 
Abbott, Fletcher M., Capt., Staflf of 

Gen. William Dwight. 
Abbott, Henry L.,Maj. and Brev. Brig. 

Gen., 20; killed at the Wilderness, 

Mav 6th, 1864. 
Allen; Edwin, 1st Lt., 78 U. S. Col. I. 
Ames, John W., Col., 6 U. S. C. T., 

and Brev. Brig. Gen. 
Ayling, Augustus D., 1st Et., D, 29. 
Bailey, Walter S., Capt. 28. 
Bean, James W., Ist Lt., 7 Batt. 
Blanchard, C F., (^apt., B, 30; died 

January 20, 1804, aged 58. 
Blood, Andrew, Capt., H, 26. 
Bonney, Seth, Maj., 26; now 1st Lt. 

27th ti. S. Infantry. 
Boyd, Hugh, 1st Lt., I, 16. 
Bradv, James W., Capt., 9 Md. 
Brady, Allen G., Col., and Brev. Brig. 

Gen., 17 Conn. 
Bradley, William H., Surg., 7 Batt. 
Bradt, James G., Surg.. 26 ; died Jan- 

uarv 22. 1808, aged 30. 
Burgess, Charies W., Capt., I, 30. 
Burnham, Walter, 1st Lt., and Brev. 

Maj., Engineers. 
Bush, Francis, 1st Lt., Q. M., 44. 
Bush, George, Capt., B, 13; killed at 

Chancellorsville, April 30, 1803. 
Bush, Joseph, Capt., 1 Vt. ; now Brev 

Major 22 U. S. Infantry. 
Butler, Benjamin F., Maj. Gen. 
Caldwell, John A. L., 1st Lt., 4 Cav. 
Care}'-, Paten M., 2iid Lt., 3 Cav. 
Caril, Alonzo W., Staff, 2 Ind. 
Carnev, George J., Major, Staff of 

Gen. Butler. 
Carney, James, 2nd Lt., H, 30. 
Cassidv, Patrick K.. Capt., 40. 
Cassidv, Thomas, D, 28. 
Claffy, Thomas, 2nd Lt. and Brev. 

Capt., G, 19; killed at Fredericks- 
burg, Dec. 13, 1852, aged 28. 
Clark, Charies F., 1st Lt., Corps de 

Afrique. 
Clark, Edwin R., Capt., B, 30; now 

2nd Lt., 26 U. S. I. 



Cleaveland, John P., Chaplain, 30. 
Coburn, Charies H., 1st Lt., 1 U. S. 

Col. Cav. 
Coltou, Charies C, 1st Lt., 2 Corps de 

Afrique. 
Comerford, John A., Maj., 3 Cav. 
Condon, John P., Capt., 19. 
Cooke, Homer A., Assist. Q. M, 
Critchett, George F., Capt., 7 Baft; 

died, October 30, 1803. 
Croft, Frederick. 2nd Lt., B, 19. 
Crosby, William D., Capt., 21. 
l^rowfey, Patrick E., 1st Lt., 20. 
Crowlev, Timothy A., Capt., F, 30; 

died at New Orleans, Oct. 5, 1862. 
Crowlev, Timothv B., Capt., and Brev. 

Maj.^B, lON.'H. 
Currier, (Jharies M., 1st Lt., 4 X. H. 
Curry, Patrick, 2nd Lt., 3 Cav. 
Dana, J. J., Brev Brig. Gen. 
Danforth, Henry, CapV, 40. 
Dame, Lorin L., Lt., 15 Batt. 
Darracott, James R., 1st Lt., E, 16; 

killed at Manassas, August 29, 1862. 
Davis, George E., Adj , 26. 
Davis, Phineas A., Capt., 7 Batt., and 

Asst. Adj. Gen., Staff of Gen. K. S. 

Foster. 
Deming, John F, Adjutant, 109 Penn. 
Devoll,^ Andrew J., ■2nd Lt, 7 Batt; 

dismissed. 
Dickerman, George M., Capf., A, 26. 
Dickerman, Orlando W., 1st Lt., A, 26. 
Donovan, Matthew, Maj., D, IG. 
Donahoe, Joseph J., Adj., 10 N. H. 
Doiiahoe, Michael T., Brig. Gen. 
Dudlev. John G., Capt., 30. 
Ea.«tman, Ezekiel W., 1st Lt., H, 26. 
Favrs, Charies G. A., Surg., 17. 
Elliott, Richard A.. Capt., 2 La. 
Emerson, Charles F., 2nd Lt., 26 
Emerson, Moses C, Lt., Corps de 

Afrique. 
England, Thomas. 1st Lt., 30 
Farr, Alpha B., Col., 26. 
Farr, Asa W., Judge-Advocate, Stafi' 

of Gen. Blunt; killed by guerrillas, 

Oct. 6, 18G3. 
Farrar, William E., 1st Lt., 7 Batt. 
Farson, James, Capt., B, 30. 



HISTORY OP LOWELL. 



229 



Ferris, Eugene W., Capt., D, 39. 
Ferris, Marsh A., Capt., D, 30. 
Field, David C. G., 1st Lt , Gen. But- 
ler's Staff. 
Field, Georo-e W., Capt., 59. 
Fifield, William A., 1st Lt., 59. 
Fish, Obed M., Capt., 2 Art. 
Fiske, Edward A., Maj., 30. 
Fiske, William O., Brev, Brig. Gen. 
FoUansbee, George, Capt., 1 H. A. 
Foster, Enoch 1st Lt., A, 6; died 

•July 21, 1863. 
Foster, John D., 1st Lt., C, 30. 
Fox, Lorenzo S., Asst. Surg., 26. 
Francis, George E., Asst. Surg. 
Francis, James, Lt. Col., 2, and Div. 

Inspector, Staff of Gen. Williams. 
B'rost, Benjamin W., Capt.. H, 26 
Fuller, llenrv A., 2nd Lt., F, 30. 
Fuller, Lucius O.. 2nd Lt., F, 26. 
Gage, Daniel P., Asst. Surg , 33. 
Gelray, Joseph, Col., 57, and Brev. 

Brig. Gen. 
George, Albert, 1st Lt., 14 Batt. 
George, John F., Capt., G, 2. 
George, Paul R., Assistant Quarter- 
master; rejected by the Senate; 

died Feb. 29, 1864, aged 56. 
Gilman, John H., Asst. Surg., 10. 
Greenwood, Frank W., Capt , La. 
Grimes, David E., Capt., 46; died 

Oct. 30, ]8G5, aged.39. 
Grush, Joseph S., 2nd Lt., 15 Batt. 
Haggertv, Peter, Major and Assis't 

Adj. Gen., Staff of Gen. Butler; 

died at New Orleans, July 8, 1866, 

aged 36. 
Hall, James, Lt , N. Y. ; killed in 

battle. 
Hull, Winthrop H., Adj., 23 Me. 
Harwood, John, Asst. Surg., 10 N. H; 

died March 16, 1863. 
Hastings, Charles, 2nd Lt., 2. 
Hayward, Asa E., 1st Lt., 21; killed 

at Petersburg, July 30, 1864. 
Hill, James E. 
Hill, John B., 1st Lt., 17. 
Hinckley, Wallace, Adj., 2 H. Art.; 

died at Beaufort, Sept. 4, '65, ag. 21. 
Hixon, Lloyd W., Asst. Surg, 13. 
Homer, Charles W., Chaplain, 16. 
Hopkins, Charles S., Assist. Q. M., 
Hopkins, James A., Capt., 17 U. S. 

Infantry. 
Howe, Pfiny R., 2nd Lt., H, 26. 
Howe, H. Warren, Capt., 30. 
Hubbard, W^illiam E., Lt., 8 N. H. 

20 



Huntington, James F., Capt., 15 Ohio 

Batt. 
Hutchinson, Edward J., Capt., 48 N. 

Y. ; died July 3, 1865, aged 36. 
Johnson, Andrew J., 1st Lt., A, 26. 
Johnston, Brent, Jr., Major, F, 30. 
Johnston, Thomas B., Capt., B, 30. 
Jones, (Jharles E , Capt., 33. 
Kelsey, Jeremiah, A, 2. 
Kelley, Thomas, 1st Lt., 30. 
Kelty, Eugene, Capt., I, 30. 
Knapp, Charles M., Q. M., C T. 
Ladd, Jonathan, Paym'r; dismissed. 
Lamson, Flenry P., Lt , F, 30. 
Lamson, W^illiam H., Major, 33; died 

June 25, 1865, aged 35. 
Lawrence, George P., Paymaster. ^ 
Lawson, Henry T., Major, 2 H. A.; 

died Oct. 1, 1864, at Newbern. 
Lawson, John, Capt., 2 Art. 
Leach, Ivory, 2nd Lt., 2 Sharp Shoot. 
Leighton, Walter H., As.st. Surg., 188 

Penn. 
Lord, Charles P , 1st Lt., F, 8 Me. 
Louger, William F., 1st Lt., C, 2 Art. 
Loverin, W^illiam F., 1st Lt., C, 30. 
Lundy, Francis H., 1st Lt., K, 2; 

served in the British Army, in the 

Crimea. 
Madden, James, Captain, 10 N. H. ; 

killed at Petersburg, June 3, 1864. 
Magee, D. A., Capt., 2 Cav. 
Maguire, Michael T, H., 1st Lt., 10 

N. H. 
Mansfield, Francis, Chaplain, N. Y. 
Marsh, Salem S., Capt., 2 U. S. In- 
fantry; killed at Chancellorsville, 

May'l, 1863. 
Marston, W^illiam W., Capt., 12 La. 
Maxfield, Jared P., 2nd Lt., 3 Cav. 
McAlpine, Thomas D., 1st Lt., V. R. C. 
McAlpine, William T., 1st Lt., C, 2. 
McAnulty, Peter. 1st Lt., G, 19. 
McClafferty, Matthew J., Maj. 
McCurdy, William G., 1st Lt , 7 Batt. 
McGee, James, Major, 3 Cav. 
McLaughlin, James, 2nd Lt., ION H. 
McQuade, Frank, Major. 11. 
Mead, Samuel H., Lt., 69; died July 

26, 1864. 
Merserve, Henry, 2nd Lt., 33. 
Miles, William H., 1st Lt., 2. 
Minassian, Simon G., Asst. Surg. 
Mitch(ill, John, 11 U. S. Infantry. 
Morrill, Edmund D., 2nd Lt., 15 Batt. 
Mower, Joseph A., Col. and Brev. 

Maj. Gen. 



230 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Mumford, Dudley C , G, 19 ; killed at 

Cold Harbor, May 31, 1864. 
Munsey, Alfred T., Capt., 1 La. 
Murkland, John, Capt., B, 15; killed 

at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 
Murphy, Daniel J., 2nd Lt., I, 19. 
Needham, Herbert A., 2nd Lt., H. 33. 
Norcross, Frederick M,, Asst. Q.' M. 
Norcross, Nicholas W., Paymaster. 
Noyes, Edward J., Maj., 1 Tex. Cav. 
O'Hare, Thomas, Capt., G, 16. 
Paine, Patrick, 2nd Lt., 10 N. H. 
Parker, John M. G., Q. M., 30. 
Parsons, Benjamin W., 1st Lt., 3 Cav. 
Peabody, Baldwin T., 1st Lt., G, 33. 
Pearson, Timothy, Capt., 15 Batt. 
P^dergast, Richard, 1st Lt., B, 2. 
Perkins, Solon A., 1st Lt. and Brev 

Maj., 3 Cavalry; killed at Clinton, 

June 3, 1863. 
Philbrick, Caleb, Capt., G, 33. 
Pickering, George A., 1st Lt., 33. 
Pinder, Albert, 1st Lt, 59. 
Poor, Charles E., 1st Lt., 38 Col. U. S. 
Prescott, D. Moodv, Capt., F, 33. 
Prescott, Frank O""., 1st Lieut., F, 33. 
Proctor, Patrick S.,Capt., D, 16; died 

March 1, 1867. 
Pulcifer, Alfred H., Capt., 2 H. A. 
Pulcifer, John C, 2nd Lt., 2 Art. 
Reed, George E., 2nd Lt., C, 30. 
Reed, Nathaniel K., 1st Lt., 30. 
Reed, Phillip, 2nd Lt., U. S. A. 
Richards, William H. H., 1st Lt., 30. 
Ricker, William G. A., 1st Lt., Col. 

Cav. ' 

Richardson, Charles H., 2nd Lt., 26. 
Robinson, Charles S., 2 Lt., 7 Batt. 
Robmson, J. A. A., 2nd Lt, 1 Col. U. 

S. Infantry. 
Roby, George W., 1st Lt., B, 22. 
Roche, David W., Capt., K, 16; killed 

at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 
Roche, Maurice, 1st Lt., H. A. ; died 

April 2, 1864. 
Rose, George W., 2nd Lt., A, 33. 
Rowe, John, Capt., E, 16 ; died June 

24, 1864, in Libby Prison. 



Rowse, Albert, 1st Lt., 15 Batt. 
Russell, Daniel W.,Capt., B, 10 N. H. ; 

killed at Cold Harbor. 
Russell, Daniel, Lt., N. Y.; died in 

the service. 
Sanborn, E. K., Surgeon, 31; died at 

at Ship Island, April 3, 1883. 
Sawtell, -Josiah A., i.t. Col., 20. 
Skinner, Theodore II., 1st Lt 
Sawyer, Nathan D. A., Capt. A, 2. 
Sinclair, Henry A., 2nd Lt, 33. 
Smith, Stephen B., Adjutant, 26. 
Shaw, Daniel W., 1st Lt., 2G. 
Shipley, Samuel D., Lt. Col., 30. 
Short, Richard H., 1st Lt., 10 N. H. 
Sladen, Joseph A., 1st Lt., and Brev. 

Capt., 26 U. S. A. 
Smith, Walter N., Capt., B, 11. 
Snow, William H., Adj., 2 Art 
Sperry, H. Austin, Capt., 30. 
Sperry, Charles, 1st Lt. 
Stevens, George W., Adjutant. 23 0. 
Storer, Newman W., Capt., 7 Batt. 
Sullivan, Francis, 1st Lt., 15 N. Y. 
Thompson, James B., 2nd Lt., G, 16. 
Thompson, Joseph P., 1st Lt , G, 33. 
Tieruev, Peter, 2nd Lt., 30. 
Tilton, Warren W., 2nd Lt, 19. 
Vaile, Edward, 1st Lt., 30. 
Vance, William G., Lt, V. R. C 
Varnum, John, Capt., U. S. C. T. 
Warren, Benjamin, Capt., D, 26. 
Warren, Thomas A., 1st Lt., F, 30. 
Waugh. Archibald, 1st Lt., A, 33. 
Webster, Peter L., 2, H. A. 
Webster, William P., Provost Judge, 

Eastern Virginia. 
Weymouth, Han-ison G. O., Maj., U.S. 

Southern Volunteers. 
Wheldon, Charles M., Lt Col., C T. 
Whiting, Joseph B., 2ad Lt, D, 26. 
Wiley, William 1., Capt, Col. La. 
WiUey, William H., 2nd Lt, A, 26. 
Williams, Charles H., 2nd Lt , 7 Batt. 
Williamson, David H., Adj., 11. 
Winn, George B., Capt., 3 La. Col. 
Yeaton, Reuben F., Capt., 1 La. Cav. 
Young, William, 2nd Lt., B, 11. 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



231 



LOWELL SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN SERVICE DURING 
THE REBELLION.--^ 



Ou Fame's eternal camping ground 
Their silent tents are spread ; 

And Glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead." 



Abbott, Samuel D., 1 Sharpshooters 

Adams, Charles A., Sergt., F, 33 

Allen, George S., 1 Sharpshooters 

Ansart, Atis E., 1, 16 

Auld, James T., 12 Batt 

Austin, Seth J., A, 33 

Babcock, Alonzo J., Sergt., H, 2 

Badger, Willard F., F, 33 

Baker, Daniel W., G, 3 N H 

Baker, S. C, Sergt., A, 10 N Y 

Baldwin, Clark G., C, 30 

Ball, Henry C, A, 2 

Barry, Edward, G, 20 

Barry, John, D, Hi 

Barrett, John, H, 30 

Bartlett, Ebenezer H., 7 Batt 

Bartlett, Reuben A., 7 Batt 

Bascom, Wallace, A, 2 

Bassett, Joseph C, Sergt., A, 2 

Beau, Lvman W., 1 N H Batt 

Bean, Williani H., B, 19 

Bickl'ord, Charles H., B, 2 

Bickford, William H., Sergt., D, 23 

Blessingtou, Bernard, C, 1 

Blessingtou, Hugh, B, 30 

Blodgett, John F., C, 30 

Bohonan, George W., Corp., F, 33 

Bowden, Ernest, G, 33 

Bowles, Ira, H, G 

Bradford, William, B, 11 

Bradt, Charles A., C, 44 

Breen, Thomas, K, 32 

Briggs, John, Jr., A, 2 

Bright, Henry C, A, 2 

Brown, Frederick H., C, 2 

BroAvn, John, 7 Batt 

Brown, Robert, 7 Batt 

Brown, Joseph M., 30 

BuUard, William T., A, 2 

Bumpus, B. F., A, 2 

Bumpus, Ephi-aim, C, 2 

Burbank, Augustus F., Sergt., B, 30 

Burbauk, George W., 5 U S Cav 



Burns, Frank, B, 40 
Burns, John A., Corp., F, 30 
Burns, John, I, 1 H A 
Burns, Thomas, I, 16 
Bush, James M., 2 N. H. 
Butterfield, Frank S., D, 26 
Butterworth, John, Ellsworth's Zou- 
aves. 
Buxton, George W., Corp., A, 2 
Cadwell, Charles D., 7 Batt 
Cain, George W., Corp., B, 19 
Caldwell, Charles, G, 16 
Carnes, Thomas, I, 32 
Cai'penter, Henry A., 1 Batt 
Carroll, Peter, K, 48 
Carroll, Martin, G, 30 
Cassidy, Francis, G, 19 
Caultield, Alfred J., 7 Batt 
Chase, Volney P., A, 19 
Chase, Wilson, 7 Batt 
Cheever, William B., A, 30 
Christie, Robert, B, 2 
Cobb, Andrew J., D, 33 
Connor, Timothy, G, 33 
Connor, James, D, 2 H A 
Coonerv, John, I, 9 Conn 
Clark, Francis W., D, 26 
Clark, Henry A., C, 24. 
Cleaveland, Harmon, 7 Batt 
Clements, Abraham, B, 11 
Clink, Richard AV., Corp.. B, 11 
Cocklin, John, B, 30 
Cole, Albert G., H, 5 
Cole, David W., H, 30 
Collins, Timothy, B, 19 
Comerford, William H., A, 26 
Conahy, James, 142 N Y 
Conlaii, James, G, 32 
Conlan, John, G, 32 
Conley, James E., 2 H Art 
Cook," Barnabas, B, 26 
Cook, William P., F, 33 
Cooper, George, K, 45 



* This list gives the surname and Christian name of the soldier, the letter 
of his company, and the number of his regiment or battery. When not other 
wise designated, the organizations belonged to Massachusetts. 



232 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



Costello, Michael, G, 3 Cav 

Coushliii, James, 1st Sergt., D, 16 

Cox", Philip, B, 30 

Coy, Eliab W.,K, 2HA 

Craig, Harrison J., 7 Batt 

Crane, Patrick 

Creamer, Matthew, I, 3 U S I 

Crehore, Charles W., A, 30 

Crosby, Frederick A., Corp., C, 30 

Cross," Ira M., G, 16 

Cross, William B., A, 6 Mass. 

Crowley, Bartholomew, G, 19 

Cunningham, John, H, 48 

Curlev, Michael, 15 Batt 

Currv, Peter, D, 16 

Custy, Michael, 1, 16 

Cutts, Charles A., D, 6 

Daggett, Andrew J., A, 2 

Daly, William, 7 Batt 

Davenport, Elijah, 7 Batt 

Davis, Gustavus J , G, 30 

Dean, Cameron, H, 28 

Dearden, John, A, 30 

Deary, Patri(!k, B, 11 

Deering, William, B, 2 

Dempsey, Christopher E., Corp., G, 32 

Dempsey, John, I, 16 

Devlin, Michael, B, 30 

Dohanv, Patrick, E, 26 

Dolanary, John, F, 30 

Donahoe", Cornelius, G, 16 

Donovan, John, A, 30 

Drach, Emil, K, 31 

Dresser, Charles, 2 

Duflfy, John, 7 Batt 

Duflty, Thomas, 6 Batt 

Duncan, John H., F, 8 Maine 

Durgin, Charles P., G, 8 N H 

Durgin, Eeavitt C, Sergt., A, 2 

Dustin, Eben S., A, 2 

Dyar, Looman H., A, 2 

Eacott, Henry, G, 10 

Eastman, Albert D., 2 

Eastman, Daniel E., C, 30 

Edds, JohnH., B or E, 30 

Enright, James, 48 

Ewan, Thomas K, 48 

Ewing, Samuel, F, 33 

Ewing, William. H, 30 

Farnsworth, David W., C, 30 

Farrell, Kicliard, F, 13 U. S. Infantry 

Fin ton, Peter, I, » Conn 

Finnegan, William, A, 11 

Fisher, George W., B, 30 

Fisher, Thomas, D, 59 

Fiske, John L., 7 Batt 

Fiske, John S., 13 

Fleming, James, A, 2 

Flood, Thomas, D, 16 

Ford, Robert H., A, 26 

Foss, John C, E, 2 

Foster, Henry C, Sergt., A, 26 

Foster, James L., A, 2 

Foster, Silas P., A, 2 

Foster Willard, A, 2 

Fox, George I., C, 6 

Frawley, John, G, 33 



Freeman, Isaac S. D., F, 16 
Frost. John, D, .30 
Gale, John A., 33 U. S. Infantry 
Gallagher, Edward, H, 48 
Galh'.gher, James, G, 3 Cav 
Gallagher, John, D, 16 
Galvin, John, G, 16 
Gannon, Thomas, B, 1 Cav 
Garland, Owen, E, 9 
Gardner, George, Jr., D, 6 
Garrity, Hugh J., I, 16 
Gates, Horatio N., Corp.* G, 16 
Gay, Edward, F, li U. S. Infantry 
Gillon, Hugh, B, 11 
Gilman, Aaron W., 15 Batt 
Gilman, Newall G., A, 2 
Gilmore, Isaac E., A, 26 
Gilson, Albert, B, 2 
Gilson, John, B, 26 
Gil-^on, Warren W., C, .30 
Gilpatrick, John, A, 26 
Golden, Barney, G, 33 
Golden, Dennis, F, 26 
Golden, Owen, B, 30 
Goodhue, David H., C, 6 
Goodhue, John, A, 26 
Goodwin, Alonzo, G, 16 
Goodwin, Thomas J., A, 26 
Gordon. John, 2 
Goulding, Owen, D, 16 
Granville, John, G, 3 Cav 
Gray, Timothy, A, 2 
Gray, James, I. 41 
GraV, James, A, 3 Cav 
Greelev, John E., B, 11 
Greenleaf, liuel W., Corp., C, 30 
Griffin, Patrick, 6 Batt 
Hall, James X.,N Y 
Hall, Jeremiah S., Corp., A, 2 
Halleran, Michael, H, 26 
Hamhlett, Alpheus, A, 30 
Hamilton Edward, F, 13 U. S. Infan- 
try. 
Handly, Fi-ank, E, 26 
Harmon, Elbi'idge, 2 
Ilarriman, Alonzo D., B, 30 
Harriman, Charles L., A, 33 
Harriman, John, G, 16 
Harrington, Daniel, D, 59 
Hari-ington, Daniel, H, lU S Art 
Haselton, Henry T., A, 2 
Haskell, Charles W., 7 Batt 
Hassett, Martin, B, 30 
Haves, Patrick, 1 N Y Chasseurs 
Heald, Joel M., C, .30 
Heath, Martin V. B., C, 30 
Herrick, Andrew J., A, 6 
Heslan, Bevnard, F, .30 
Hibbard, Thaddeus A., A, 2 
Hilton, Moses M., G, 6 
Hodge, John A., G, 59 
Iloffron, Michael, I, .59 
Hollihan, Patrick, 2 Cav 
Holmes, Silas S., Sergt., L, 1 Cav 
Honeybun, Thomas, 6 Batt 
Hopkinson, Francis, 44 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



233 



Horn, Charles C, A, 26 
Hosmer. Edwin, 59 
Hosmer, Nathan D., I, 30 
Howard, Edwin F., K, 31 
Howard, James, A, 2(3 
Howe, Orin 8., G, IG 
Hove, Patrick, A, 2 
Hudson, John P., 7 Batt 
Hudson, Jonas F., D, 2G 
Hughes, John, Sergt., I, 16 
Huntington, John P., 7 Batt 
Huntington, John H., A, 26 
Hurd, Frank G., Sergt., G, 26 
Hurley, James J., B, 17 
Hutchius, Everett E., F, 33 
Hutohins, Warren E., 7 Batt 
Jacobs, Andrew G., G, 19 
James, Edwin S., A, 33' 
Jeflfers, Matthew I)., G, 3 Cav 
Jones, Charles H., G, 16 
Jones, EdAvard, Corp., G, 16 
Jordan, John, H, 26 
Judge, James, F, 33 
Kain, Edward, D, 16 
Kanna, John, G, 16 
Kavanagh, James A., G, 16 
Kearns, Peter, G, 33 
Kearns, Patrick, F, 30 
Keeie, John, G, 28 
Keeuan, John G., 11 U S Infantry 
Keith, John H., C, 6 
Kelley, Hiram, A, 26 
Kelley, Michael, B, 30 
Kelley, Thomas, K, 15 
Kempton, Frank J., D, 26 
Kempton, Orin, Jr., D, 26 
Kennedy, John, Sergt., 1, 16 
Kennev, Charles, Corp., 15 Batt 
KenneV, John, Jr., Corp., G, 3 Cav 
Kerrigan, Phillip, E, 11 U S I 
Keyes, Patrick, 51 N Y 
Kirk, James, G, 30 
Kittredge, Charles E., I, 2 
Kittredge, George H., U S Cav 
Knapp, Freeman, Corp., F, 33 
Ladd, Luther C, D, 6 
Lahifl", Michael, 1, l(i 
Lahiff, Timothy, H, 48 
LaMountain, George A., A, 11 U 

Infantry 
Lamphear, (4eorge B., B, oO 
Lane, Joseph H., Musician, G, 33 
Lapont, Edwin, H, 11 
Leeman, William A., F, 7 Conn 
Legro, Herman A., D, 6 
Linsky, Dennis, E, 28 
Livingston, Nelson S., A, 2 
Lockiiug, Leonard A., F,33 
Lockling, Joel M., E, 1 Cav 
Lone, Francis, VY., I, 30 
Lonacr, John, F, 33 
Louc:hran, Bernard, 3 Cav. 
Lov'erin, Luke W., D, 6 
Lynch, William, B, 11 
Maguire, Edward, N H 
Mahau, Michael, H, 30 
Mahoney, Frank, C, 9 



Malone, John, E, 4 N H 
Manchester, Delos W., H, 26 
Manning, John, B, 2 
Manitel, William L. G., F, 54 
Mansur, James M., Corp., G, 33 
Marble, Charles H., A, 26 ^ 
Mardeu, James P. P., 2 Cav 
Martin, James, B, 30 
Mm-tin, Michael, G, 16 
Martin, Thomas, 15 Batt 
Maskell, Henry H., H, 26 
Mathews, Oren E., 7 Batt 
Maxwell, Charles L., K, 12 
Maxwell, Thomas, G, 30 
Maynard, Beriah, F, 5 Vt 
Maynard, Dennis, 96 N Y 
McAllister, Samuel, G, 16 
McAnultv, Thomas, G, 33 
McCabe, JohnT., D, 30 
McCabe, Hugh, G, 30 
McCahey, Thomas, Scott's 900 Cav 
McCanna, John, B, 30 
McCarthy, Jeremiah, F, 30 
McCarty, John,B, 30 
McCormick, Nathaniel, B, 63 N ^ 
McCorry, Peter, G, 31 
McCrea, Terrence, D, 9 
McCutcheon, William, C, 30 
McDermott, Owen, M, 1 H A 

McDonald, Edward, G, 30 

McDonald, Hugh, 7 Batt 

McDonald, James, 15 Batt 

McElliott, Michael, 64 111 

McEvoy, Joseph, Corp., I, 16 

McGinley, John, G, 16 

McGoon, John B., A, 33 

McGuire, Hugh, F, 30 

McKenzie, Angus C, Corp., F, 33 

McKernan, John, B, 30 

McKinlev, Robert, H, 30 

McKissock, Robert, Jr., 4 N H 

McLaughlin, Edward 

McLaughlin, William, A, 1 H Art 

McMahon, Patrick, D, 16 

McManus, John, F, 30 

McMorrow, John, G, 19 

McNabb, John, B, 30 

McNamara, Peter, F, 9 

McNulty, Neal, H, 30 

McNulty, Thomas, G, 33 

McQuaid, Thomas, G, 16 

Mercer, James P., A, 32 

Merrill, Benjamin, F, 33 

Miles, Newell W„ D, 11 U S I 

Milnor Thomas R., 39 

Mitchell, James F, 11 U S Infantry 
MoUoy, Pat, A, 11 
Monahan, James, D, 16 
Montague, Thomas, D, 16 
Moodv, Edwin A., Corp., C, 
Mo<ne, Ira W., Serg., B, 30 34 
Moran, Hugh D., 16 
Moran, James, E, 30 
Moran, John, F, 30 
Morgan, Henry, 7 Batt 
Mulcahv, Williain, G, 16 
Mullen,' James, ^, 30 



234 



HISTORY OF LOWELL 



Mullen, Michael J., A, 30 
Mulligan, Charles, Serg., G, 3 Cay 
Murphy, Dennis, 3 U S Art 
Murphy, John, A, 11 U S I ' 
Murtagli, James, F, 30 
Murtle, John, L, 1 H A 
Xason, Royal T., A, 26 
Nelson, Andrew, A, 2 
Nelson, Robert, G, 16 
Nelson, Samuel, G, 16 
Newman, Charles H., C, 2 
Noonan, Michael, E, 26 
Norris, William, C, 3 Vt 
Norton, Bradford S., Sergt., A, 26 
Nudd, John H., H, 4 N H 
Nutter, Luther P., A, 2 
Oakes, James, B, 2 
Gates, Andrew, F, 30 
O'Brien, James, I, 26 
O'Brien, John J., B, 29 
O'Connell, James, G, 19 
O'Conners, Timothy, V R G 
O'Grady, Michael, F, 19 
O'Gradv, Thomas, G, 16 
O'Donnell, John, D, 14 U S I 
O'Hare, Charles M., 1st Serg., G, 16 
O'Neil, Dennis, F, 30 
O'Neil, John, G, 16 
Ordwav, John II., D, 11 N H 
O'ReileV, Patrick, A, 30 
O'Rourke, Patrick, H, 30 
Page, Lorenzo F., D, 26 
Page, Lucius, Corp., A, 2 
Page, Rinaldo, 7 Batt 
Paine, William W., Serg., G, 33 
Palmer, William, F., C, 2 H A 
Park, Orin R., Corp., A, 6 
Parmalee, Alfred S.. Corp., C, 30 
Peabody, Iliram, C, 30 
Pearson, Edwin P., C, 1 H A 
Penn, Charles H.. Corp., E, 11 
Peterson, William, 48 Pa 
Pettes, Andrew J., Sergt., D, 59 
Phelps, Elias A., G, 19 
Philbrick, Charles W., B, 2 N H 
Pike, Charles O., B, 30 
Pike, Domiuicus S., E, 30 
Plimpton, Samuel, E, 30 
Plumado, Oliver, 2 Cav 
Pollock, Thomas C, N Y S M 
Poison, Frank B., D, 17 
Pomfret, Michael, B, 30 
Prescott, Evauder A., 1.") Batt 
Proctor, Alvin L., G, 10 
Prouty, Sidney S., A, 2 
Purcell, John, K, 67 N Y 
Putnam, Alonzo. 15 Batt 
Quinn, Patrick, A, 30 
Rafferty, John, B, 2 H Art 
Ramsey, Nehemiah S., C, 30 
Randal], George P., E, 30 
Ray, Norman J., A, 33 
Read, John H., Musician, C, 16 
Ready, John C, A, 1 
Reed, George E., C, 30 
Reilly, Patrick, K, 1 N Y 
Reynolds, John, A, 26 • 
Reynolds, Michael, H, 28 



Reynolds, Pati-ick, D, 16 

Richardson, Luther L., A, 26 

Richardson, Hudson M., 7 Batt 

Riley, Patrick, G, 56 

Riley, Patrick, K, 69 N Y 

Ritchie, Robert, H, 2 Del 

Rourke, Dennis, E, 9 

Rushworth, John B., F, 33 

Russell, Albert M., E, 22 

Ryerson, Horace, A, 2 

Sanborn, Leyi C, C, 2 

Sargent, Charles D., D, 26 

Sawtell, Luther, Jr., 1, 26 

Sawyer, Bernard H., A, 20 

Scannell, Ambrose P., I, 1 N H Cav 

Scully, John, Wagoner, A, 29 

Scully, John, F, 30 

Searles, Henry D., A, 26 

Shannon, Charles, F, 30 

Shaughnessey, James, F, 30 

Shaw, Chase's., Sergt., A, 26 

Shea, John, G, 19 

Sheppard, James W., B, 29 

Sherwell, Walter, F, 33 

Short, William, A, 10 

Simons, Timothy, C, 12 

Sleeper, George, Corp., G, 16 

Smith, Charles D., E, 9 

Smith, Edward, I, 30 

Smith, Henry L., C, 30 

Smith, John,"D, .59 

Smith, William B., C, 30 

Smith, William F., A, 33 

Smith, Michael, B, 30 

Smith, Peler, E, 30 

Smithson, George, A, 9 Vt 

Snell, David, D, 26 

Spalding, E.G., A, 2. 

Spauldiug, George W., 7 Batt 

Spaulding, Oscar A., A, 2 

Stanford, Freeman S., B, 6 Vt 

Stephens, Alexander, B, 2 

Stephens, John, B. 2 

Stevens, Warren H., U S Sharpsh'teig 

Stevenson, Cushman S., B, 2 Cav 

Stewart, William, I, 16 

Slickney, Henry, G, 33 

Strong, "Martin V. B., 1 Shai-pshooters 

Sullivan, Eugene, B, 30 

Sullivan, Jeremiah, 4 U S Batt 

Sutherland, George, C, .30 

Swain, George W., Coi-p., C, 6 

Taylor, John, Z., F, 17 

Tenney, John, F, 30 

Tetreau, Jeremiah, F, .33 

Thissell, Joseph W., G, 33 

Thomas, Richard E., Corp., A, 26 

Thompson, Lafayette F., Hospt. Stew. 

Thompson. James, G., A, 26 

Thompson, John, F, 13 U S Infantry 

Thompson, Richard A., A, 30 

Thompson, William,D, 26 

Thurston, Anson G., C, 6 

Tighe, James 

Tighe, Matthew, I, 19 

Tighe, Patrick, Corp., F, 30 

Tilton, James G., H, 48 



HISTORY OF LOWELL. 



235 



Tracy, Thomas, K, 20 
Trull, Zeuas B., 2 Sharpshooters 
Tully, James, M, 1 H A 
Tye, Henry, K, 2 
Lusworth, liichard, 20 
Waddle, James, G, 1(5 
Wallace, John A., B, 2 
Ward, James F., F, 58 
Webster, William M., B, 30 
Wedgewood, Edwin S., A, 26 
Welden, Thomas, I), 16 
Whalau, Philip, D, 59 
Wheat, Josiah C, A, 26 
Wheeler, John P., 7 Batt 
Whipple, Calvin, 1 Batt H A 
Whipple, Woodman, D, 3 Vt 
Whitcomb, Valentine, A, 30 



White, Harvev, C, 74 Ohio 
Whitney, Addison O., D, 6 
Whitney, James M., 1 H A 
Whitten, Ebeu B., Sergt., A, '. 
Whittier, Riiel, Corp., B, 2 
Williams, Anson W., 3 Cav 
Wilson, Joseph H., A, 26 
AVilson, Lafayette, A, 33 
Winsor, George W., 4 Batt 
Withee, Thompson H., A, 26 
Woods, John, I, 16 
Woodward, George E., D, 26 
Worth, Charles H., B, 2 N H 
Wright, Lewis C, A, 2 
Wright, Charles H., 11 Ohio 
Young, Albert C, H, 26 
Young, James, F, 30 



COEEECTIONS. 

The chapter of Manufacturing History was sent to press be- 
fore J. H. Sawyer had succeeded George Motley as Agent of the 
Appleton Company's Mills. 

The chapter of Church History was printed before the ordi- 
nation of Rev. F. R. Morse as pastor of the Worthen Street 
Baptist Church, and before the author had seen Dorchester's 
History of St. Paul's Church, which contains many interesting 
details touching the growth of Methodism here. 
On page 35, for " President," read " a member." 
*' " 35, for "presided at," read "participated in." 
" " 89, for " Lambert," read "Larabord." 
" " 124, for "A. B. Farr," read "Asa W. Farr." 
" " 223, to the necrological record, add "March 3, Henry 
M. Hooke, 53, Physician." 



J 9? 



